NYT/Reuters: Some Parts of Military Still Hostile to Gays

[DeepModem Mom]

Some Parts of Military Still Hostile to Gays
By REUTERS
Published: August 6, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gays in the U.S. military face regular hostility on some bases and ships where commanders fail to prohibit harassment more than a decade after the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' law was enacted, although seeds of greater tolerance may be taking root, advocates and witnesses report.

While some leaders have created environments where harassment is not tolerated, others have not and the evidence, according to witnesses, is both verbal and visual.

On the Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, for example, anti-gay statements and jokes are on display and have been incorporated into a video about the F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft, recently shown to reporters on the carrier.

Pilots on the Roosevelt sported T-shirts, also shown to reporters including this Reuters correspondent, that said, "I'm a Tomcat guy and you're a homo.'' The commander of the fighter squadron, in fact, wore the shirt.

"The line between that and threats and violence can be quite thin,'' said Aaron Belkin, director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California-Santa Barbara....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-rights-military-gays.html

[xchrom]

1. americans really don't get it -- they are homo-erotica

personified --''i'm a tomcat guy -- and you're a homo''?

hello!?!?!

every homo i know will want that T-shirt.

that will be a homo porno before the week is out.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. I'll bet your're right! nt

[xchrom]

3. lol -- i'll bet i am too. n/t

[leQ]

6. i'd take one that said you're the tomcat guy, and i'm the homo. (n/t)

[xchrom]

7. shit -- we all would!

OR the other way around.

we make the world fabulous!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Yeah, but....

I see that the dateline on that article is August 6, 2006. What puzzles me is, hasn't the F-14 been retired from service? Are they still being used for training purposes?

I'm going to link to Wikipedia simply for convenience. I would certainly expect Jane's to be far more authoritative.

Wikipedia entry for F-14 Tomcat

The last F-14 combat mission was completed on February 8, 2006, when a pair of Tomcats landed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) after one dropped a bomb in Iraq. The plane was part of VF-31 and the last pilot credited with a bomb drop in combat was Lt. Bill Frank. An F-14D from VF-213 was the last F-14 to land on an aircraft carrier after a combat mission, it was piloted by Capt. William G. Sizemore. During their final deployment with the USS Theodore Roosevelt, VF-31 and VF-213 collectively completed 1,163 combat sorties totaling 6,876 flight hours, and dropped 9,500 pounds of ordnance during reconnaissance, surveillance, and close air support missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On March 10, 2006, the 22 planes from these squadrons flew in formation into Naval Air Station Oceana, home from the last combat deployment of the F-14. VF-213 pilots and radar interception officers who are making the transition to the Super Hornet will begin F/A-18F (double seat) training in April 2006, and the squadron will be operational, or "safe for flight," in September 2006. VF-31 pilots who are making the transition will begin F/A-18E (single seat) training in October 2006, and the squadron will be safe for flight in April 2007. This will make VF-31 the last official Tomcat squadron in the Navy.

So, if the Wikipedia article is right ("grain of salt" warning here), the F-14s are at NAS Oceana. The NYT article suggests some are still on CVN-71. Would someone please clear this up for me?

Edited: the snippet provided said only that there was a video about F-14s shown on the Theodore Roosevelt, not that the F-14 was still operational there.

[karlrschneider]

5. So when the Tomcat guys get out of the navy, they'll be homos too.

Heh.

[Lost-in-FL]

8. Alfa-homos

:+

[AnnieBW]

9. Methinks

Those Navy guys protest too much... :D

[DeepModem Mom]

10. Come to think of it, the article does describe a good amount...

of focus on the gay issue on that ship.