Annotations, Ch 94
Sexual orientation and the military
...Is a very touchy topic in the United States. Internationally, policies seem to vary from nation to nation. If anyone is more knowledgeable about this topic than I am, please feel free to correct me in this. I am drawing mostly from wikipedia here, and have not looked into the actual legal statues.
In any case, with regards to Germany, according to wikipedia homosexuals, both gay men and lesbian women, are allows to serve in the armed forces. I quote from the site: “Heterosexuals and homosexuals alike are allowed to engage in sexual activity while in the military service as long as it does not interfere with the performance of their duties. Lesbian and gay soldiers are also entitled to enter civil unions as defined by Germany’s domestic ‘partnership’ law.”
With regards to the United States, the infamous “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy does not allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. I quote again from wikipedia: “The United States of America prohibits LGBT service members from serving openly . . . service members who remain closeted are allowed to serve, but investigation into a member’s sexuality without suspicion is prohibited.”
Governor Paterson is the current governor of New York state. He became governor after that whole Eliot Spitzer debacle went down.
Angela Merkel is the first woman chancellor of Germany. She was recently (10.28.2009) sworn in to serve for a second term as chancellor. She studied physics at university and was a researcher for some years. Her dissertation is entitled “On the influence of spatial correlations on the rate of chemical reactions in dense gases.”
...Is a very touchy topic in the United States. Internationally, policies seem to vary from nation to nation. If anyone is more knowledgeable about this topic than I am, please feel free to correct me in this. I am drawing mostly from wikipedia here, and have not looked into the actual legal statues.
In any case, with regards to Germany, according to wikipedia homosexuals, both gay men and lesbian women, are allows to serve in the armed forces. I quote from the site: “Heterosexuals and homosexuals alike are allowed to engage in sexual activity while in the military service as long as it does not interfere with the performance of their duties. Lesbian and gay soldiers are also entitled to enter civil unions as defined by Germany’s domestic ‘partnership’ law.”
With regards to the United States, the infamous “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy does not allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. I quote again from wikipedia: “The United States of America prohibits LGBT service members from serving openly . . . service members who remain closeted are allowed to serve, but investigation into a member’s sexuality without suspicion is prohibited.”
Governor Paterson is the current governor of New York state. He became governor after that whole Eliot Spitzer debacle went down.
Angela Merkel is the first woman chancellor of Germany. She was recently (10.28.2009) sworn in to serve for a second term as chancellor. She studied physics at university and was a researcher for some years. Her dissertation is entitled “On the influence of spatial correlations on the rate of chemical reactions in dense gases.”