Getting your 'Wings' 2005 style? (Recruiting homosexuals to the military)

[Bronx]

Getting your 'Wings' 2005 style?

Getting your 'Wings' 2005 style?

BBC world news story -- Army joins parade for Gay Pride



The Army have joined a gay pride parade for the first time, as soldiers marched with lesbians and gay men at Manchester's Pride Festival. About 10 uniformed soldiers paraded and manned a recruitment stall.

Some 20 RAF colleagues manned a float featuring a plane cockpit - the RAF was the first armed service to join a gay pride festival at last year's event.

The Royal Navy said its decision not to attend was not intended as a snub, but was due to large numbers of servicemen and women being on leave and Manchester not being near a naval port.


Festival Director Claire Turner said it was great "the Army is coming."

[B Sousa]

Military Recruiting is not fashionable lately and its tough to find folks willing to sacrifice a choice of making a living or doing Military Service.
Its the same in the states the Military will go anywhere to find some willing to serve.

I guess we can change the slogan from "Good men are hard to find" to match the picture of "Hard men are good to find. Can you imagine the winged dude as your "Drill Instructor" or do we have to change that name also.......

Im roaring with laughter..............

[[email protected]]

So the Royal Navy are still in denial despite all the jokes about 'Rum, bum and 'baccy' and the golden rivet.. Maybe they really do believe it doesn't count after 3 days at sea and that you are only gay if you push back!

As for the military recruiting more gays, I'm off before it becomes compulsory!

[vortexstate]

One can sense a bit of a hot topic on the boil!
From when I joined the Navy in the 80’s, times have changed drasticlly in the Australian Services. The old idea of a gay soldier/sailor/airman not being able to back up his mates (pardon the pun) and do the job, just don’t cut the mustard anymore.
There have been gays in the forces for more years then anyone cares to remember, and they were in positions that many a troop had to rely on them. Sure, everyone knew of the goings on but it was over looked by all!
I agree that there has to be a form of screening for the correct personal, as to all applicants, but as long as a person can conduct the task properly then who has the right to hold them back?
Welcome to the 21st Century Ladies and Gentleman………

[Heliport]

Bert

I don't think that individual on the left is actually in the army ... yet.

(According to today's Sunday Times, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed the recruiting policy also applies to transvestites.)

[B Sousa]

" the Ministry of Defence has confirmed the recruiting policy also applies to transvestites."
Now that could be a problem. How does one in the military select his/her/its uniform. Cross dressing Sergeants wear what to the parade??
Political Correctness is so nice and Im so glad Im retired...........

[SASless]

Oh...this could be interesting....choice of dress...choice of bunking...loo use...and could one alter those choices based upon which personality was dominant that day?

Or....would a mixture of gender attire be the standard?

Would you address the individual as Sir, Maam, or somewhere in between?

I can see a Drill Instructor getting very confused....as they like to keep things simple....and use direct methods to address issues. Sounds like the DI's need to be issued Stress Cards so they might be able to take a Time Out if it becomes too terrribly complicated for them to sort out.

[tommacklin]

I wonder what the angel/fairy in whites is saying to the QMSI.......

C'mon Q, please play with me.....

I wonder what that 10 man team did wrong to be sent on that detachment.

[B Sousa]

"wonder what that 10 man team did wrong to be sent on that detachment."

Two opinions. Either:
1. The first Ten Persons on the Sgt Majors Sh1t list.
2. At home with the Crowd.

[Letsby Avenue]

Is that 'tommacklin' a Royal Engineer?

[Whirlygig]

Monty Python's soldiers on parade drill did this some time last century!

Announcer: And now a precision display of bad temper.

Soldiers: My goodness me! I am in a bad temper today, two three! Damn damn, two three! I am vexed and ratty, two three! And hopping mad!

Announcer: And now, the men of the Second Armored Division with their famous close order swanning about.

Sergeant: Squad... Camp it up!

Soldiers: Ooh get her!
Whoops, I've got your number ducky, you couldn't afford me dear, two three. I'll scratch your eyes out!
Don't come the Brigadier bit with us dear, we all know where you've been, you military fairy.
Two, three, one, two, three, four, five, six.
Whoops! Don't look now girls, the man has just minced in with that jolly colour Sergeant, two three. OOOOH!

Cheers

Whirls

Somebody was going to do it so it might as well have been me!!

[tommacklin]

In a former life Letsby, yep, thats me. pm me.

tam

[Heliport]

You prejudiced, intolerant, homophobic lot!
(Apart from vortexstate who's in the 21st Century.)
The "Gay Pride" march is to show that homosexuals are proud to be as they are, as normal as heterosexuals, and shouldn't be thought of as 'different.'

Here are some more pics from the march.
(Copyright Manchester Online)

[Whirlygig]

Heliport - a good point, well made!

Cheers

Whirls

[Heliport]

Make a point?
Moi?

I just thought Bert might like to see the winged dude from a different aspect and included a few others to give a flavour.

Wonder how the Army and RAF recruitment drives went?

[Dave_Jackson]

Is the "plane cockpit" in the lead article a reference to the unadorned jockstrap in the accompanying photo?

[aeromys]

This one is running well in "The NAAFI Bar" section in the Army Rumour ARRSE forums - the only other Forums worth reading other than PPRUNE

ARRSE

[Agaricus bisporus]

You prejudiced, intolerant, homophobic lot! The "Gay Pride" march is to show that homosexuals are proud to be as they are, as normal as heterosexuals, and shouldn't be thought of as 'different.'

Heliport. You may find your views are not understood by a large part of the community. Indeed you may find your views are reviled by a large proportion of the communty with conventional morals, which no doubt you will deride as not being "politically correct", if I may use such a revolting phrase. The problem with your viewpoint is THAT IT IS ITSELF POLITICALLY INCORRECT, in that it tries to tell those with a differrent viewpoint to yourself that they are wrong, and you are, for some unaccountable (and entirely self justified) reason, correct, and that they have no right to express views that are based on moralities centuries if not milennia old instead simply because you said so...But you of course are free to say what you want... Doesn't sound too democratic to me.

Homophobic? Don't make me laugh. The root of the word "phobic" is "fear". Do you seriously suggest anyone fears these people? Get real!

"As proud to be as normal as heterosexuals" Oh fer chrissakes! You must be off your trolley to suggest such nonsense! Normal!!!!??? What heterosexual dresses up in leather and walks around in public with his arse hanging out? Normal? You want to take a reality check pal. If anyone carried out a bad taste stunt like that outside a homo's rally they'd be arrested for indecent exposure and probably get a sex offender's lifelong listing too. And rightly so too.

Sadly in this mad mad world ruled by the poison of political "correctness", surely the ultimate in doublespeak; it seems that the queers can get away with behaviour that would have anyone else banged up on indecency charges, yetsome people will still try to suggest their behaviour is "normal". This is simply a distortion of reality. Human sexual activity is intended to procreate the species and involves, ipso facto, men and women. When people start to root inanimate objects, animals, children, men or cabbages then they have clearly gone off the rails. That cannot, under any misuse of the language, be described as "normal".

Thirty years ago your viewpoint was regarded as criminally obscene. I accept that nowadays that obscenity has become a widespread tacit acceptance amongst those who are willing to reject centuries of well founded morality at the behest of the cheapest tabloids, but you must recognize that there is still a substantial proportion of the community that retains the traditional morals and is utterly revolted by the in-yer-face offensiveness of such capers. Their rights not to be offended are at least as valid as yours, propbably more so as they are backed up by centuries if not milennia of convention, unless you are so arrogant as to suggest that your johnny-come-lately ideas are somehow superior to those existing for centuries or more.

I shudder for the future - the next 30 yrs, if the same "anything goes" mentality that you represent follows the logical path and starts to include perhaps children and animals in the same way...

Is that your idea of normality?

[reducing_Nr]

Oh,

Someone's hit a nerve!! hahahaha

[Dave_Jackson]

Standing behind Heliport

Heterosexual activity is exalted because it is the precursor of sexual reproduction. Procreation and the genetic continuum is perhaps mankind's most basic drive.

However, today's gene manipulation, stem cell research and cloning are changing the means of reproduction. Eventually, the act of reproduction and act of sexual gratification will loose their strong association. Along with this loss will be the diminishment of the manmade morals that were developed to bond the two activities together.


I speak on this subject from personal experience.

For many, many years I was trisexual. I had this strong desire to 'get it on' with cute, cuddly, little sheep. Then one day they cloned Dolly. As you can imagine, my world fell apart. The psychiatrist spent years trying to make me heterosexual. He said he would even settle for bisexual. Alas the frontal lobotomies were taken too far. I became asexual.