[quote=Russell]More pragmatism; The war machine folks worry about how a fully open policy would affect recruitment of volunteers. Would they rather have 10 more bible thumping homophobes or one more out homosexual?[/quote]
This is an interesting question. Quantity or quality? Going the other way, we are in dire need of Arabic translators, yet there have been documented cases of dismissals of gay translators because of DADT (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/opinion/08benjamin.html). How is it pragmatic to dismiss badly needed skills because the other soldiers sensibilities were threatened?
Going back to Dan’s point, who decides which sensibilities are ok to use as a basis for dismissal and which sensibilities aren’t? I personally would have no problem rooming/boarding/foxhole-ing with gay soldiers. I personally would have a problem rooming/boarding/foxhole-ing with bible thumbing apocalyptic end-of-timers. Especially if they listen to Nickleback.
