You can make up what ever gets you through the day, but if you’re showering with a bunch of people you can bet some of them are homosexual. You’re saying the military policy should be set up so that you can avoid the truth. That’s what I’m going on about.
Once this is hurdle is negotiated, they'll move on to the next.
Yes, don’t ask, don’t tell is set up to keep people in the dark, so some troops don’t freak out, or worse, discriminate or take action, against other troops.
And while the general attitudes in society may be getting more permissive towards deviant sexual activity of all types (look at the rise in teen girls giving random blow jobs to guys for the fun of it), the mentality of the “real men” who volunteer to go possibly get their brains blown out may not be the type of thinking that says “love to have a gay guy showering with me”.
They may much more likely be the kind to say “no f-ing way I’m hanging around with a f*g*t, no f-ing way I’m trusting some girlie man with my life”.
And if I was gay and in the military, I wouldn’t want to tell, because if you think the enemy is particularly cruel to women who they catch in combat, imagine what they’d do if they caught an openly homosexual soldier.
I hate to ruin anyone's fantasy here, but group showers aren't exactly commonplace in the military anymore, outside of basic training. If you shower at the gym you go to, you're likely more exposed, so to speak, than the average troop is.
Again, this is not what the generals are worried about. There are sexual harassment mechanisms in the UCMJ that work as effectively on gay men as they do on straight men. What the leadership fears is that their system does not permit half measures. There is no 'tolerance' level, it's either on or off. An officer that said, "I tolerate the presence of women and minorities in the military, because I am legally required to, but I don't believe they should be here" in public may as well resign.
If gay rights are permitted in the military, being militantly (heh) pro-gay rights will be as mandatory as supporting women and minorities. Failure to aggressively adopt a pro-gay viewpoint will hurt promotions (which are centralized, and central boards bend to top pressure easily). Once pro-gay is the military party line, you cannot respect it as part of your job, but otherwise agree to disagree. You have to be 100% for it, publicly, or your career is over.
It may not start out that way, but within one generation of officers, the old guard will be brushed aside, and the new breed will throw their less ardently pro-gay colleagues under under the bus left, right and sideways, if it helps them get promoted. That's what the military leadership is worried about. Not flying HIV blood or gay shower scenes. They know what the system will become, and what effect it will have on the entire military culture.
Nearly every article posted on FR about public sex has been about homosexuals (and often it's group sex). This includes oral and rectal sex in public restrooms, truck stops, public beaches and parks.
Knowing the preponderance of evidence that this demographic group gladly practices private behavior in public, would you be willing to share a communal shower with them if they were allowed to serve openly?
Currently the situation is this, a bunch of guys go into a shower and take care of their personal hygiene. Everyone can reasonably assume that it is relatively safe as all present are “straight”. There is some guarantee against unwanted advances, the homosexual making those advances could get drummed out for it.
Now, allow gays in the military to serve openly. We can readily document where they claim sexual intercourse in public restrooms and showers is just “part of the homosexual lifestyle”. Now, if a gay suddenly decides to be agressive, the target of his “affections” will likely wind up in counseling for refusing his advance. As has already been stated, the military doesn't do anything halfway. They would literally have “advisers” from the homosexual aberrants telling them that they have to allow this behavior.