Response to "Thoughts on yesterday"

I really enjoyed the blog, "Thoughts on yesterday". Having only little previous knowledge on homosexuality in the United States, I found this very interesting and factual. A major current even focused on was the, "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, a policy which orders homosexuals not to tell others in the military they are gay, but rather keep quiet about their sexual orientation. This is enforced because if it is discovered one is homosexual, they may be kicked off the military. This dehumanizing law demonstrates how ones personal choices in America can have such a strong effect on themselves. I thought the author of the blog had a good point when they wrote, "this policy (don't ask, don't tell).... only enforces and encourages silence within the gay population. This is yet another way to keep homosexuality out of our culture". I thought this was a solid point because is goes back to a central question asked from this class, what does it mean to be an American? As a country, I would say we pride ourselves in being fair and equal to all, but what kind of message does it spread if we tell citizens that they do not have the freedom to be themselves during their occupation (ie: the military)? The author of this blog proves an interesting when they comment how we trying to "keep homosexuality" out of American culture. In a YouTube video shown in the final presentation posted on the blog, there was a debate between military officials on gays in the military and how the topic should be handled. One of the military officials asked another, who was African American, how he felt about gay rights in the military. When the official replied he was against it, the other military man asked if he though racial segregation would be appropriate in the 21st century. I thought this was a great point. If we don't discriminate some one for the color of their skin, why should we treat a human different because of their sexual orientation? I really enjoyed reading this blog, not only because I learned new information, but because it made me ask myself questions which I had never thought of before, further questioning my morality.