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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.politics
Date:         Mon, 16 Nov 1992 18:32:00 EST
From:         "(rf35)" <Richard_A_FYFE@UMAIL.UMD.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Gays and lesbians in the military
Comments: To: Forum for the Discussion of Politics <POLITICS@ucf1vm.cc.ucf.edu>

Greetings:

Concerning the alleged problem of people of the same gender
sharing showers in the military.

        I would like to ask, specifically, the bad effects that
one expects will result from such behavior.  I have heard that
having males and females living in close quarters causes problems
because it contributed to more frequent sex (and, consequently,
to more frequent pregnancies).  This came without any empirical
support.  However, since homosexual sex is (so far as I know)
infertile, then it is unlikely that pregnancy will be a problem.

        Another potential problem is that this type of living
situation will result in an increase in (homosexual) rape.  Here,
again, there is need for some type of empirical evidence showing
that homosexuals who live with people of the same gender are more
likely to commit rape than those who are segregated from people
whom they find sexually attractive.

        A third problem is that some people (mainly, heterosexuals)
will be uncomfortable with the knowledge that some of the people
they are showering with find them sexually attractive.  As has
already been pointed out, these people should already know that
they are showering and bunking with people that find them sexually
attractive.  (Think about this the next time you enter the gym--
about one out of ten people you see in the locker room are gay.
Should we alter all public restrooms and locker rooms--demanding
that homosexuals use private or individual quarters.  The argu-
ments provided, if valid with respect to the military, would seem
to have to argue with changes in the way we civilians separate the
sexes as well.)

        Still, one can argue that such interaction should be
prohibited.  The fact that people in fact shower/share quarters
with people to whom they are sexually attractive provides no evi-
dence against the claim they ought not to do such things, any more
than the fact that people commit murder provides a good argument
against the thesis that thou shalt not kill.  Against such
an argument I would ask on what is the idea that it is wrong to
shower/share quarters with somebody to whom one is sexually
attracted (but not sexually involved with).  There is no evidence
to suggest that this is intrinsically wrong--if it is wrong it
can only be because the activity tends to have harmful effects.
But, as of yet, no evidence has been given to believe that such
interaction leads to harmful effects.

        One could argue that the 'harmful effects' will exist in
any situation in which a heterosexual must be in the presence of
a homosexual who finds him/her sexually attractive, is made to feel
uncomfortable, but can do nothing about it (like, have the homo-
sexual removed from his/her presence).  The analogy mentioned in
one post to the discomfort which women would feel if forced to
shower/share quarters with men who would be looking at them is
relevant here.  As I hinted at before, these 'harms' would exist
in private as well as military establishments--and the prevention
of these harms would argue for banning homosexuals from public
restrooms or other facilities where they would come into contact
with individuals made uncomfortable by such an arrangement.  There
is reason to doubt that this counts as a significant 'harm,' and
that this 'harm' where it exists can be considered no different
from the 'harm' which a shy/modest individual suffers as a result
of showering/sharing close quarters with anybody.  It may reasonable
be held to be something which those who are in the military may be
expected to live with--just as they must learn to live with all
sorts of other compromises.

        [Note: Just to add a bit of symmetry to the argument, do
homosexuals have a 'right' not to be made uncomfortable by being
forced to share close quarters with people to whom they are sex-
ually attracted?  It would appear that the homosexual would gen-
erally feel more discomfort as a result of such situations than
the heterosexual.]

                                                Richard A. Fyfe
                                                rf35@umail.umd.edu
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