the military does not own uncontrolled airspace, they are a joint user. Of course, if a glider penetrated a restricted miltary area, that would be a different matter.
I have every sympathy with the gliding community (of whom I am not one), when fast moving jets whistle through at 360 or 420 knots, and then they are made to appear dangerous and culpable in the press for the resulting airprox.
I agree 100%.
I've frequently seen gliders join at several GA airfields I know, make no calls, completely ignore published circuit procedure, and in several cases stop on the runway as well. This is not big, clever, or safe.
There are limited exceptions (e.g., airshows), but generally speaking a sailplane will not voluntarily land at a GA aerodrome; the pilot only lands there if he or she runs out of lift. In such circumstances, it may well be essentially impossible for the pilot to fly nice neat circuits. Further, the pilot will have no time to look up "published circuit procedure" or the relevant frequency, even assuming that he has room in the cockpit to store such documentation. Finally, chastising an unpowered aircraft for "stopping on the runway" is just plain silly (apologies to Genghis if he was referring to glider pilots abandoning their aircraft on an active runway while they went to telephone for a retrieve).
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PAN/Maday calls - not a huge relevance
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At various times I've seen (and reported on RT) road accidents and another (non-radio) aircraft make an emergency landing underneath me - that's just as likely to happen to a glider as something powered.
A forced landing in a glider is very rarely an emergency, unless one is imprudent enough to fly over completely unsuitable terrain; and even then, the pilot would be better off keeping his head out of the cockpit and landing the aircraft as best he can, not wasting precious time communicating with people who are in no position to provide immediate assistance.
It's also nearly as likely that your pax might suffer some medical problem in a glider as a Cessna, requiring a Mayday.
In the first place, the great majority of sailplanes are single seaters. In the second place, if one has a passenger with a medical problem, the prudent thing would be to land, not to waste time gabbing on the radio.
similarly for a structural failure - a glider is hardly less complex than a light aircraft and maintained to lower standards.
Virtually all modern gliders are stressed for greater loads than are light airplanes; accordingly, they are less likely to suffer structural failures. I cannot say that sailplane structural failures are completely unknown, but such an unqualified statement would be 99.9% accurate.
In any case, in the unlikely event of a structural failure, the prudent pilot will bail out without delay, not stick around fiddling with the radio.
I am frankly baffled by the suggestion that gliders are not maintained to the same standards (perhaps this dichotomy is true in the UK, but it is certainly not a universal situation).