Oh the times, they are a a-changing
Back in the day, homosexual military personnel had no choice but to remain deeply hidden in the closet or find themselves administratively discharged. Then came the famed "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Colin Powell was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, the nation's top military officer. He advised then President Bill Clinton that he was opposed to allowing gays to serve openly in the military, but reluctantly supported the compromise policy. He also advised the President not to take on that issue so early in his first term, advice the President rejected.
I served from 1977 to 1987. I knew a number of deeply closeted gay military members. I didn't care. Who someone sleeps with, who someone loves isn't any of my business. Well, not as long as they aren't also sleeping with me. I'm a firm, steadfast believer in monogamy. That at one time I had a roommate who was sleeping with other men, while I was sleeping with women was never an issue. We just didn't do it in our barracks room. At least not without making sure we had exclusive use of the room that night.
Now the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has made a decision that's the right move, although the limits placed on it trouble me. Secretary Shinseki has decided to allow the same-sex partner of a veteran to be buried in a Veterans cemetary. It isn't a policy change, it won't have any impact on any other veterans who are in same-sex relationships who want to be buried next to their partner. But it is a step in the right direction.
I hear that the Marine Corps is also taking a step in the right direction. The word is that the Marine Corps will no longer allow clubs for military spouses to hold functions on their posts, if the group discriminates against same-sex spouses.
Meanwhile, I'm pondering something. There's a public university in Mississippi that's known as the Mississippi University for Women. It went co-ed in 1982. There are some 60 or so women's college overall in the U.S. Almost without exception, aside from the above instance, they are private schools. In the U.S., a school that is private can practice discrimination as long as it doesn't get federal funding, although that seems to be ending where racial discrimination is concerned.
But were I to go out and open a private men's college, I'd be sued before I finished filling out the first page of the application for accreditation, let alone apply for status as a non-profit. Every single one of those women's colleges and universities that I mentioned above is getting federal funding, in a roundabout way. Their students can qualify for federally-guaranteed student loans. That involves federal funds. Clearly there is a double-standard at work here. No men's colleges, but women's colleges are still okay.
Time for a change. Let's give private universities and colleges that offer federally guaranteed student loans a choice. End all forms of discrimination under the various Civil Rights acts, or no more government-backed loans. Our tax dollars should not be guaranteeing loans that are being made for students to attend educational institutions that could not do what they are doing, if they were getting direct public funding.
I served from 1977 to 1987. I knew a number of deeply closeted gay military members. I didn't care. Who someone sleeps with, who someone loves isn't any of my business. Well, not as long as they aren't also sleeping with me. I'm a firm, steadfast believer in monogamy. That at one time I had a roommate who was sleeping with other men, while I was sleeping with women was never an issue. We just didn't do it in our barracks room. At least not without making sure we had exclusive use of the room that night.
Now the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has made a decision that's the right move, although the limits placed on it trouble me. Secretary Shinseki has decided to allow the same-sex partner of a veteran to be buried in a Veterans cemetary. It isn't a policy change, it won't have any impact on any other veterans who are in same-sex relationships who want to be buried next to their partner. But it is a step in the right direction.
I hear that the Marine Corps is also taking a step in the right direction. The word is that the Marine Corps will no longer allow clubs for military spouses to hold functions on their posts, if the group discriminates against same-sex spouses.
Meanwhile, I'm pondering something. There's a public university in Mississippi that's known as the Mississippi University for Women. It went co-ed in 1982. There are some 60 or so women's college overall in the U.S. Almost without exception, aside from the above instance, they are private schools. In the U.S., a school that is private can practice discrimination as long as it doesn't get federal funding, although that seems to be ending where racial discrimination is concerned.
But were I to go out and open a private men's college, I'd be sued before I finished filling out the first page of the application for accreditation, let alone apply for status as a non-profit. Every single one of those women's colleges and universities that I mentioned above is getting federal funding, in a roundabout way. Their students can qualify for federally-guaranteed student loans. That involves federal funds. Clearly there is a double-standard at work here. No men's colleges, but women's colleges are still okay.
Time for a change. Let's give private universities and colleges that offer federally guaranteed student loans a choice. End all forms of discrimination under the various Civil Rights acts, or no more government-backed loans. Our tax dollars should not be guaranteeing loans that are being made for students to attend educational institutions that could not do what they are doing, if they were getting direct public funding.
posted by me at 4:34 PM
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