The Many, The Gay, The New Marines to Celebrate Gay Pride Month

by: Da Tagliare
For years, I’ve heard the ads for the US Marine Corps that said, ‘The Few, the Proud, the Marines.’  During the same time, the US Army ran recruiting ads with the slogan, ‘To be the best you can be.’  I recall when I spoke to military recruiters years ago, the recruiter for the US Air Force told me that one of the roles of the US military was turn boys into men.
 But when I read that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was thanking gay and lesbian service members for serving and announcing that the US military was preparing to celebrate Gay Pride Month, it made my stomach turn.  Panetta said that he was striving to make the military a place of equal opportunity and that openly welcoming homosexuals into the ranks played a vital role toward that goal.  He also said,

 “As we recognize Pride Month, I want to personally thank all of our gay and lesbian service members, LGBT civilians and their families for their dedicated service to our country.”

Among the plans to celebrate Gay Pride Month, the Pentagon plans to use signs, hallway displays and various activities.  In the past, they’ve conducted similar celebrations for Black History Month and Asian-Pacific Heritage Month.  A gay organization  at West Point has been allowed to hold a dinner for gay Army cadets as well as gay and lesbian service members.

I’ve never seen the Pentagon or anyone else celebrate White Heritage Month or Straight Month.  Is there anyone at West Point hosting a dinner for straight cadets and service members?  It seems that everyone ignores straight, white people and if we say anything about it, we’re called racist and bigots.  If we criticize celebrations of sinful lifestyles such as Gay Pride Month, again we’re call bigots, intolerant and are accused of hate language.  Incidentally, gays can say anything derogatory they want about whites or people that are straight and it’s not bigotry, not prejudice and it’s not hate language.
When I see what Leon Panetta and Barack Obama have done to the military and considering Panetta’s statement about making the military an equal opportunity place, I don’t see how the Marines or Army can continue to use their ad slogans.  The Marines are no longer ‘the few and the proud.’  The Army is where you want to be all you can be, because many don’t want to be the way they are going.  When I think back to the words of the Air Force recruiter, I don’t see how they can claim to turn boys into men.  To be honest, I’m not sure what they’re turning boys into and frankly, I’m not sure I want to know anymore.