Last week, the DOD (Department of
Defense for those of you not up on your military acronyms) announced
that in order to “provide fairness” to those members of the
service who are homosexual to get married, the military would now
generously give them 10 days of uncharged guaranteed leave in order
to get married. I'm going to call crap on this policy, I think its
absolute crap, pure and simple.
Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing
against homosexuals in the military. I don't care if a homosexual
couple moves next door to me, nor do I care if a homosexual works
with my husband. I honestly don't care if a homosexual were to deploy
with my husband and see his ass butt naked in the showers – it
doesn't bother me. However, this new “policy” bugs the shit out
of me.
If a straight, heterosexual military
member decides to get married out of state, they have to put in for
leave and hope it get approved. There's no guarantee it will get
approved, one has to hope and pray their superior approves it. When
it is approved, it comes out of what days they have banked up, if you
only have 5 days banked, well, you better get married really fast and
get your ass back in time. No honeymoon for you. I know many people
who have planned a wedding only to have something go wrong, whether
it was leave not being approved or the wedding was outside the travel
radius that was approved. Shit happens in the military, quite often.
However, now the DOD says “hey, if
your gay, guess what, the rules do not apply to you.”.. If you're
gay and want to get married, you automatically get 10 days,
regardless if you've got that time banked or not. And its 10 days
free, just for being gay and getting married.
How is this policy fair in any way
shape or form? If a military member is deployed to a foreign combat
theater for 1 year or more, they are given 15 days R&R which they
are charged for out of their normal leave account. So basically the
DOD is saying we will reward you for just being gay by giving you 10
days to go get married, but if your straight and putting your life on
the line, you gotta pay for it yourself?
Originally, with the repeal of “Don't
Ask – Don't Tell” we were told that all the government wanted to
do was make it so that homosexual military members could have the
same rights as their straight counterparts. I don't mind this, I
honestly don't – but this does NOT create a level playing field
across the board. To me, Equal means that both homosexual and
heterosexual military members get the exact same treatment – access
to military healthcare, BAH, survivor benefits for spouses. Equal
does not mean give one side better treatment or more benefits than
the other and tell us that it's fair. I'm sure there's plenty of
heterosexual military members who would love to be given 10 free
leave days to get married but that's not going to happen. So, why
should homosexuals get it?
Fair is making homosexual members pay
for their leave out of their accrued normal leave account, just like
their straight counterparts. What's next DOD? Give homosexual couples
who are E-4 or below houses established for Field Grade officers
because they might not be comfortable living with possibly
discrimination from straight E-4 and below in JNCO housing?
In my opinion (Not that the DOD or
President Obama asked me for it ) is that by giving homosexual
members “perks” or extras like the 10 extra days , instead of
making the transition easier, it will only cause animosity between
straight service members and homosexual service members. It doesn't
matter if someone is Gay or Straight, they all serve the same
military, the same country and should be given the same treatment.
Until next Time...
R&R does not come out of incurred leave. It is separate and can be taken in junction with earned leave but is not taken from earned leave.
ReplyDeleteChristine, thank you for pointing that out. Someone else also pointed this out on the FB page. My husband's deployment was prior to the 2010 change so I tend to stay in the mentality of him having to use leave for his mid tour R&R.
ReplyDeleteBut wait think of all the gays that have been together for years and would have got married if they could have. 10 days is nothing compared to the sacrifice they have given. could you imagine not be able to marry, let alone come out and let people know who you love? It's not like they could run to the court house and have a quickie marriage like so many of us military. Give them a break they have been treated like 2nd class citizens for what seems like forever let them have this little win. Besides how does this hurt you. This article makes you come off as a whiney and selfish toddler: "They have what It's want is not fair." Usually I agree with you but today I can't get behind today's article. Keep up the good work and I realize it's an option which every one has a right too.
ReplyDeleteJenBen, whiny it may be. However, thousands of DOD workers have just returned after being forced into a 6 week UNPAID furlough because our government cannot pay it's bills. Then that very same government turns around and gives a select group seven to ten days of free paid time off. I know several government works, both GS and WG grades who were forced to get 2nd jobs because they lost anywhere from 600 to 1000 dollars a week because of the furlough. Those workers weren't even allowed to use their Leave time to make up for the difference - they flat out had to do without being paid for 6 weeks. For them, it is a complete slap in the face that their livelihood and paychecks suffered only to turn around the same week the furlough is over and have the government say "Hey, if your gay, here's 7 to 10 days to get married paid for by us".
DeleteI totally agree with you. I thought homosexuals wanted equality??? I doubt any gay military person will turn down the free leave as a stance for equal rights though. I just want to know what was going through the minds of the folks that thought this would be a good idea. Who even suggested this?!
ReplyDeleteSorry its taken me so long to respond. I'm in the process of moving and internet is definitely less then spotty.
ReplyDeleteI dont see how the furlough even comes into this. Civilians and contractors had a right to marry whomever they wanted Talk about who they love or even put up pictures of their loved one in there lodgings if they CHOOSE to go on a deployment. After years of being denied what I like to think of as a "civil right", 10 days doesn't seem like enough.
Service members still have to go through the proper channels to book their leave. And like I stated above its not like most of this people can just run to the local court house for a quickie marriage.
Wow people were losing 600 to 1000 dollars a week? I wished service members got paid like that. Seems a bit unfair...civilians/contractors can decide that risking their life on a deployment is just not worth it and make a huge amount more than their enlisted counter parts...
It seems to me your fighting for the wrong side when you should be celebrating a small victory.
The number of gays in the military who are currently ready to marry is a smaller percent than what you probably think. Not every gay person is going to run off and get married just because they can.
Oh and according to the hubby people get free leave all the time. He tried to explain how this works but to be honest I wasnt paying attention.
JD
DeleteThe free leave is permissive TDY and last time I looked there are over 40 different categories that get 'free' leave. Some examples are paternity leave, helping at Special Olympics, house hunting prior to PCS or after arriving at a new duty station.
Also the $600 to $1000 a week is a bit extreme don't you think? That means that these people are making $600 to $1000 a day because they lost 20% (1 day) of their weekly pay. May not want to exaggerate so much next time.