Commandant Mundy then proceeds to rattle off the same party line that was used to preclude black servicemembers from serving in the military prior to President Truman's Executive Order that changed the practice. Some critics will immediately respond by stating that the experience of being black and being gay are very different - and that it is insulting to compare the two. No one is suggesting for a second that the experience of being black or being gay is the same. It's the shared experience of discrimination that is equally unpleasant and dangerous no matter how you slice it. Commandant Mundy has unwittingly, however, hit the proverbial nail on the head.
Conduct is the operative word here.
In short, engaging in anal sex and simply expressing that you're gay is the same violation under this policy and the punishments equally harsh. A rebuttable presumption that stating you're gay means you will, unless you can prove otherwise, engage in conduct that is forbidden. A recent investigation at Lackland Air Force base revealed the official instructions to servicemembers, who had done nothing more than utter a word that revealed their orientation - told, were that a lie or retraction would allow them to continue serving. As if simply stating you're heterosexual means you would automatically engage in heterosexual misconduct. There are a few national and local organizations run by gay activists that do not understand the military, and have a political agenda that is based on nothing other than a perceived injustice with little experience or insight into the culture of the military.