Thank you, Admiral Jamie Barnett. (And thanks to my mum for the link).
No ranting today (readers breathe sigh of relief…). Just bemusement and a bit of sadness that we still all have to have these conversations.
I was really struck by the phrase “gay and lesbian warriors.” Warrior is such a powerful word, a powerful thing to be. We idealize warriors in our culture, and they also frighten us. Warriors can be scary people. But we make so many movies about them — tell so many stories that explore the experience of the warrior — because when it comes right down to it, we want the most frightening, brutally skilled, strong, strategic people on our side. We want them in the woods when the bear opens its frightening mouth. We want them in the alley when the gun comes out of the darkness. We want them on fields of battle half a world away.
And these days we also need them to be articulate, compassionate, culturally aware, self-controlled. It’s a lot to ask. Seems like we’d want all the folks we can get who are willing and able to take it on.