VIEWPOINTS
EOITORIAIS OPINIONS UTTERS TQ THE EOITOR
Wanted: Homosexuals
who know how to behave
■ OUR OPINION Th<*
US military's policy
on homosexuality *s
inherently prejudiced
America Imm celibate
homosexuals.
After all. they're non»
threatening ami arid a cer
tain color to social,
academic: and professional
environment*.
Heterosexual* get JO
espouse how liberal and hip
they am by talking about
their "gay friend. Michael"
or "Sue. who happen* to be
a lesbian" without their but
tons being pushed.
it's only when gay men
and lesbians m tualfy want
to live as gay men and les
bians li e. love someone of
the same sex. have sea. kiss
and hold hands in public,
talk about their spouses,
etc.) that many people
become uncomfortable, dis
gusted or afraid.
This gulf between theoret
ical and actual homosexual
ity (and America's
dtscomfon with the latter)
forms the foundation of the
military's "Don't ask. don’t
tell" policy.
For the uninittaiod. the
official polity for voluntary
enlistment in the armed
force# says it is OK for sol
diers to lie gay or lesbian as
long as they don't acknowl
edge it.
Currently. Navy U.
Kh hard Watson is taking
the US. government to
»ourt. after the Navy tried to
discharge him for telling a
commanding officer that he
it ga\ He can stay, of
Course, as long as ho swears
that he dims not engage in
"homosexual behavior."
Watson s lawyer is argu
tng before a federal judge
that the military's |»utU y
violates Watson's constitu
tional rights of free speech,
due process and espial pro
lection Judge Thomas Zilly
is oxjMK ted to rule on the
case within the ness few
veeks
In the meantime. Watson,
who wants to be a subma
rine commander, i* pushing
paper* at his desk. The
Navy has said it does not
discriminate because Wat
son can lie openly gay at his
desk, |tist not 20.000 leagues
under the sea
Why? Because Watson'*
sexual orientation would
make the men under his
charge uncomfortable, and
his presence would under
mine "group cohesiveness
and morale ”
The irony l* that If Wat
son has just kept his mouth
shut about which gender he
is attracted to (something
Out! would eliminate *JO [m•
OMtt of barracks converse
Hons if il wore applied to
straight soldiers), he would
have his command. He
would still he gay. of course,
but nobody woufd have to
hear about it. he would be
gay in theory
The military* policy
endorses prejudice It says.
In effect, that the U S gov
ernment cannot denounce
bigotry because the bigots
won't go for it.
tan we imagine applying
the same argument to racism
and sexism' 'Hie military
did, actually Hut eventual*
ly, it made ihe morally right
choice, and the armed forces
and the nation are better for
it
Unlike every' other minor
ity group in this oouniry.
gav man and lesbians are
asked to deny an essential
part of w ho ih*>\ -ire to pur
MU* their 1 areer of i hue »*
They are rew arded for not
disrupting other people’s
comfort tones
lt‘s no surprise that the
military feels that the policy
is just America does, too
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f *4<»C.£ P A f W
Abortion debate still dividing the nation
Mention the won! abortion in ilronl
any public forum, and you might
find youf*»!f right smack in the mid
dle of an impassioned discussion
A* a pro Ilk* person Igasp' choke — cough.
rtw'!, 1 don't usually initiate diaruaaiont on
Mibjeil simply Iwc-auw* I. well. 1 know that!
am uaually outnumbered and don't Wl it nacm
wry to ha verbeDy enu died on a routine basis
I undentand the concern* and argument* of
the pro-choir* position
A pro-chon * jwvm will usually say that the
urn eminent and other opposing group* have no
business interfering with a woman’* right to
make decision* tone veiling her own body
Another pro-chouat point i* that abortion is a
medically safe proc edure conducted by prole*
tiled medical (wopie
sionally treil
Abortion is also legal The Supreme Court 9
made It the law of the land tn 1873 Since then.
American* have mandated thi* law through
maturity opinion
I n .siU there I* sills detute a* to whether a
fetus should be i onsufered human, instead of
the "fetal tissue' or embryo or any other number
of labels used to define it* development at any
given time
Ini' «* *-i the In-art of the pm |«»i
(ioo
tf lhe fetu* t« indeed not human, then there ii
no longer a debate lot prolifer*
However, modem ** tern*i (early reveal* that
the fetu* u human
Human male i|*ra iumIi have 23 chrumo
wmitt a* doe* the female egg After a tingle
sperm wiggles it* wav into the egg, the combina
tion i* no kingef two tepantie unit* of 23 chro
IMMNM* each. but a brandnew entity contain
ing 4fi romp let e chrorooaome* In other word*,
it ha* alt the DMA coding that give* u* our phys
iati characteristics
If thit zygote »* allowed to develoo and
mature, tt will come «Teaming and kicking into
thit world in about nine month*.
But. wait a minute. I called it a zygote, didn't f?
Well, ye* And *ince we are talking about
human reproduction here, let's go am step fur
ther and ad) it a human zygote
After all. it'* not a banana zygote, or a Tas
maniai. Devil zygote
It i* human in every way. except that at thi* ear
ly *tage tt certainly isn't recognizable a* human
But it i» a brand-new life form A human life
form A human being
The only difference between a zygote and you
and I i* that we {voung and old alike) are. for the
mo*l part, fully developed We are out of the
womb We are "viable ~
A# you may recall, the Supreme Court'* Roe v*.
Wad.- d« i*ion vit-d that abortion* were to toe
allowed only in the fir*t two trimester* (up to fix
month*) of the pregnancy, allowing later teem
abortions only if the mother * life was In danger
The question ii. why is the fetus considered
non-human in those firsi six months, then sud
denly human, or viable, in the last three months
of gestation?
Does the fetus go through some magic trans
formation that allows it to tie called "human" a
split second after midnight on the evening of the
stxth month? For that matter, is the fetus any
OPINION
less human as it travels
through the birth i.anal just
before being bom?
No. it isn't loss human. Mure
frail and perhaps unable to sur
vive outside the womb after
only si* months of develop
ment. yes But the fetus is just
Bartlett
as numait at ^■wwM*oid as »
is al nine months.
In the ItttH-ftS Yellow
Pages, the All Women's Health
i»«rvu vc m r.ugona advertised abortion service*
to 21 week*," In the t «<tii pages. the clink has a
now a<| tKal say* Hi and 2nd Trimester Abor
!um Sen a e% Following the guidelines of da
ta**. the clinic c an legally abort an unborn baby
that ha* developed a full si* months in the*
mother's womb Keep in mind a fetus already
has brain waves after a mere six to eight weeks
after < (inception
By the end of the first trimester (11-12
weeks). the- unborn twl»v already has eye* fin
gets and toes, a limiting heart, a working brain,
and a func tioning nervous and respiratory sys
tern It moves, and it can feel pain
It is a functioning human being, although still
quite dependent on its mother for food, shelter
and survival.
This is why the abortion deflate isn't |ust a
matter of a woman's right to choose. There is
another fife at stake A human being that has a
right to live.
As far as abortion being a medically safe pro
cedure. it certainly isn't safe for the fetus The
truth it, many women die every year from
batched atiortions (see The RegisterGuard, Aug
9. 1995, p 10A)
Finally, we have the legality question
Yes. abortion is legal The ma|onty of America
wants it that way — otherwise it would change.
However, fust because a taw exists doesn’t
make it right or truthful Hitler and the entire
nation of Germany convinced us of that.
Roe v* Wade, in essence, declared unborn
human beings to bo "non persons." much as the
stave taws up to the end of the Civil War
declared African Americ ans to be less than
human and mere "property of their masters "
And like early American slavery, the abortion
issue is something that will continue to divide
.our nation.
David Bartlett. a junior pm-majoring in journal
inn. is an editorial editor for the Emerald