Arguing a position: Gays in the Military - Essay Example

All individuals are endowed with a variety of capabilities which help them to perform different functions necessary for their healthy sustenance. These include the person’s physical strength, his intellectual acumen, his intelligent prowess, his creative talents and so on. The strength of the individual’s abilities helps him/her to select a particular profession, where a person can direct all his efforts and earn the financial resources necessary for his livelihood. For example, physically strong individuals could select a profession which requires an abundance of physical activity.

An intelligent man may opt for a work which requires a lot of intellectual reasoning and research, whereas a creative person can choose to be involved in a creative profession like theatre, cinema or music. As human beings progress in their lives, establishing themselves in society, they have certain basic needs which are required to be fulfilled. Apart from the basic necessities of food, water and a shelter, individuals have sexual needs which can be satisfied by engaging in conjugal activity with a suitable partner.

People’s choices of their partners are completely personal and are determined by their sexual orientation. Persons may engage in sexual activity with a person from the opposite gender and such people are knows as heterosexuals. Majority of the population of the world belong to this category. On the other hand, individuals who prefer to select their partners from the same gender as their own as called homosexuals, and their number is still a minority in the global population. Among the homosexual people, the male members are known as “gays”, while the females are termed “lesbians”.

Therefore, it is seen that a person’s abilities of working in a particular profession is not related in any way to his sexual preference in life. While the former represents an individual’s working capabilities, the second is a basic human need which requires to be satisfied. It can be inferred that sexual orientation of a gay person should not interfere with his ability to serve as a member in the military forces. Following this logic, the United States must allow the gay members of its population to be a part of its national military.

In the modern times, there have been many social movements urging the countries of the world to accord equal civil rights to their respective homosexual population. The sexual preference of a person in selecting one’s own partner is completely a matter of personal choice and does not hinder the individual’s abilities in other spheres of his life. Numerous social activists have argued that gays and lesbians are normal human beings who are fit to accomplish all civic responsibilities expected from other citizens.

Therefore, they should also be provided with the usual civil rights that are accorded to the other members of the society. This argument strengthens the case of the US citizens who believe that Federal Government should not discriminate among the people according to their respective sexual preferences and prevent the homosexuals from serving in an essential service like the armed forces (Bateman, 3). In 1993, the Federal Government under President Bill Clinton tried to abolish this long-standing ban, but it faced vehement opposition from the US Congress and the country’s military forces.

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