Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for May 29, 2012

Don’t ask, don’t what? You go girl.

She’s gay and proud of it.

Roz is ready for “a gay ol’ time.” (from The Flintstones theme)

Nothing stops Roz.

Everybody must know!

Say it loud, say it proud – since for so long you couldn’t.

Mitt says hr would re-enstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Iwonder how that would work (besides poorly).

Over 40 years ago, didn’t ask, didn’t need to, didn’t care.

Actually I think Mel’s father has a legitimate gripe. I don’t think Roz has any more right to, really, brag about being gay than someone else has to proclaim to the world he/she is straight. Really, why should Roz expect those not personally involved to care? And wouldn’t most people think those who made it a point to assert their sexual orientation – no matter what that may be – is acting somewhat strangely? That’s the problem with activist of any cause: they seem to not be able to accept acceptance.

I know for a while it’s going to be tempting to shout it from the rooftops, but to borrow a phrase from the Security Folks (AKA Professional Paranoids, or the keepers of the Confidential, Secret, Top-Secret, etc. files), just like the extra-marital affairs and other assorted sordid ‘dirty laundry’ we all saw from the corner of our eyes in the Crotch, I must avert “I still don’t have A Need To Know”.You GO, girl, but have the sense to not shove people’s noses in it, OK? Any more than you would the other.If the nose is Blue, even more so!

Didn’t matter what service, if you worked for NSA, you knew who was gay and it didn’t matter all the way up the ranks as far as I could see as long as you did your job.

I was talking about enlisted because of our higher than normal IQ’s :) Officers, well let’s not get into that.

@gmartin997

" no more so than the homosexuals who force their lifestyles on those who don’t approve " ? who is forcing their what, now?

No, not the other fellow, in this matter I’m afraid, it is you.

When was the last time you had a gay person “force their lifestyle” on you? As someone who is still serving, and straight mind you, I’ve felt sorry for gay people who weren’t allowed to discuss their sexuality with ANYONE. DADT was always a policy that looked the other way if you and your buddies were talking about the girl you had brought back to the barracks. But, if you were gay you weren’t allowed to discuss your lifestyle. Once identified as gay, you were subject to UCMJ and booted. Talk about forcing your lifestyle on someone! And considering that Mitt would like to repeal the gays in the military policy, I think it’s great that Garry is keeping this subject in the public mind. It’s kind of selfish but, I don’t want to have to sit through another powerpoint briefing when/if they change the policy again! My fellow Soldiers and I have other missions to worry about.

I retired from the Navy in 1992, and during my career, being a homosexual was a court martial offense. One of the guys in our division in the 1980s was almost definitely gay. He was one of our best sailors. I didn’t know for sure about his sexuality, and I certainly didn’t want to know, because, if I knew, I would have been obligated to turn him in. Now that being gay in the military is no longer a crime, I don’t blame the gays for celebrating.

yes, these effing so called Christians deciding for all of us how to live and what to believe and forcing Christian laws on everybody, non Christians and all that.

imagine having to put up with Christians who force Christian Government in our lives. Called the Republican/Right. St. Ronnie and his “type.”

Shoving their religion in our Government, society and non Christians. i guess they think it’s alright to shove their morality on others. watching the blowback when someone else tries to do the same, the Christians yell persecution.

those who throw stones, and live in glass houses.

how i wish religion was really against the law. morals of these Christian are what got this country in the deep doo doo it is, ah but that is just what Christians do. force their beliefs on everyone else.

Not enough love from these Christians, and too much judgment and hate.

Seems to me DADT never worked very well. Even those who were willing to stay quiet had to look out for people who would out them. And as some people have already pointed out, under DADT being gay meant having to filter all normal conversation.

While most gays that I have met over the years have learned some discretion, there are some that seem to like the drama of being “in yo face”, and enjoy making straights squirm.I understand that there are those who were born that way or were conditioned by upbringing or society, but seeing it all over and having it pushed on me is way past the line.I have seen gay porn displayed in sidewalk side windows – I guess it was to say that straights were not welcome there

Roz is in almost eight years and still a specialist? Hmmmm…There might be a more pressing threat to her career than her sexuality!

@gmartin“No amount of arguing is going to change anybody’s mind on it.”

Not true. Ten years ago, the majority of Americans were prejudiced against gays. Today, clearly you are in a minority. Fifty years ago, the majority were racist, also not the case today. It’s exposure to the people we hate, showing that they are mostly, just like us, that eventually breaks down the racial, ethnic and gender orientation barriers that cause prejudice and hatred. You may choose not to be influenced by this exposure, but many are. Some people are open-minded, some of you are not.

I think Roz is going through newbie enthusiasm. When someone is initially accepted into a group, there’s a tendency to try to impress people to justify their acceptance. It’s quaint to those already in the group, and annoying to those outside the group.

Being gay isn’t shameful, but it’s nothing to be particularly proud of either. It just means your sexual preference is a bit neurotic or wacky. Why go around broadcasting that to everyone?

I somehow deleted my earlier posting – it posted twice, I deleted one and both are now gone.To briefly recap, Thanks for your perspicacity, wit and eloquence. I wished I had said it.In defense of gmartin997 ( did I really say that?) he is a product of his generation. As I mentioned yesterday, at the beginning of this arc, that GT was highlighting the generation gap in perceiving gays and lesbians. Many older citizens are locked into a mindset based on their upbringing and social situation. From his posts I’d surmise gmartin997 is in his early 70’s, religious and Republican and this is what influences his thinking.I’m not that much younger but was fortunate enough to have benefited from a far more liberal way of thinking and a more liberated lifestyle. I try to be tolerant of everyone but confess I don’t play well with religious fanatics, bigots or racists.

From “WKRP in Cincinatti”:“Les, if you ARE gay, there’s nothing shameful with that. You should be PROUD that you’re gay, just as I’m…proud that I’m not.”

My uncle was homosexual. He served as a naval corpsmen (medic) at one of the nastiest battles in the Pacific, Guadalcanal. I doubt seriously that any sailor, marine or soldier he treated gave a rat’s fanny about who he wanted to sleep with just so long as he could patch them up and get them home alive. The rest of that stuff did not matter!

We count on Doonesbury to bring up controversial topics. It is kind of what separates Doonesbury from most other comic strips. He has been doing controversial stuff since the very beginning, decades ago. I was glad he didn’t shy away from Watergate and I am still happy to hear about the current topics today.

Wait, what about her dozens of dates with guys?

Always fascinates me that the people who say “I’m not shoving my heterosexuality in their faces” are often those who wear wedding rings. have pictures of other-sex spouses in work areas, tell jokes where the point depends on heterosexual sex, make comments where the point depends on heterosexual sex, etc., etc.,

“No amount of arguing is going to change anybody’s mind on it.” Who is arguing? The guy who is spoiling for a fight is Mel’s (probably, but who knows) straight father.

GT isn’t fighting, either—he’s simply creating characters who are ordinary people. If he didn’t tell you up front that his gay characters are gay, would you know, otherwise?

No—because being gay is ORDINARY, folks. Your gay friend brother sister husband wife mother dad is not really different from your straight friend brother sister husband wife mother dad—except, of course, that most of their lives they have tried to keep a big secret about a major part of their beings.

We straights (especially bthe older ones) sometime must ask ourselves: what would I be like if I had to keep my sexual or gender preference a secret my whole life?

How easy would it have been?

Who could I talk to, as a teenager, about my crushes?

How could I dress up and go out and have fun doing it, as a teenager, if my parent or my minister/priest or the guy down the block might kill me for doing so?

Most teenagers think they personally are somehow weird and they die a thousand deaths trying not to be. WHAT must it be like—in a place where gays are ostracised and excluded—being a gay teenager? No wonder these kids kill themselves—when you’re a teenager, you think there is no way out.

Those straights who were born without empathy and who never try to imagine being different from themselves are the ones who are holding up the move of human progress here. Mitt and his pals are standing in the way of history. Whether they like it or not, every single day there are fewer people out there willing to be beat up, willing to be excluded, willing to take this abuse. We straights who are gay allies simply have to hold on to our empathy and maintain the energy and power to stand with our gay friends and family as they push backi.

Gee, RR, with your post coming out of right field, and not having anything to do with the topic at hand, you and Roz appear to have a few things in common.

Years ago, the biggest “threat” our spies faced was being “outed” and blackmailed. It was OUR puritanical B.S. in the U.S. that made that a problem, the rest of the world DIDN’T CARE! Decades later, we were still losing translators and highly valued people in the military because of religious persecution, yes, it WAS “the religious” exerting THEIR power to deny rights, and threaten NATIONAL SECURITY!

That a soldier, sailor, tinker, or spy, can be open, and state their “position” and NOT have it endanger them, or the nation, is long past time to arrive. It is time for those on “the religious right”, who are neither, to back off on many issues, and let this SECULAR NATION, survive, and progress.

Your toilet called, it misses you.

Don’t know what the real percentage is, but it’s probably more than 5%, because the entertainment world we’re all addicted to has made gayness a fashionable lifestyle choice. But the Log Cabin Republicans, Dick Cheyney’s daughter, or Megan McCain don’t have a problem with that. Weird isn’t it?

What has that got to do with today’s strip/ You obviously have a one track mind and no train of thought.

Alabama Al — you’re merely experiencing what all gay people had to for decades: having someone else display his/her sexuality in your face. Have you ever kissed or held hands with a person of the opposite sex in public? Well, it works the same way for gays, too. Get over it. Roz is merely being proud, not trying to upset anyone. If you’re upset, then you’re the one with a problem.

DADT was a step up from the previous policy. Before then, the Brass had the right to ASK if one was gay. If you said yes, you were discharged. If you said no, and they found out that you lied, you were in the stockade and then Dishonorable Discharge.

Spoken like a true bigot…..

To the rest who are being more wordy in response to him, you’re wasting your breath. Don’t see any changing happening there… Lmao…

So what you are saying is…their behaviour is in many ways the same as fundamentalist Muslims?

If I win Lotto, I am probably going to talk about it for a while. If my team wins the play-offs, I am probably going to talk about it for a while. Roz feels a bit the same way. After a while the novelty will wear off and she’ll stop talking about it.

…and your problem, even if that were remotely the case is?

Sometimes it is better to close your mouth and only be thought a fool, you fool!!

Just plain nasty and not needed here Frank!

When I joined the military, homosexuality was forbidden; Then it became optional; I retired before it became mandatory……

You forgot hypocritical.

Waa-waa, Mel’s dad. My own father could be just as old-school and conservative on a lot of issues, but he also had surprisingly liberal ideas about sexuality; in regards to homosexuals, his attitude could have been summed up as “live and let live.”