Marine Corps General James Conway: Marines Would Not Be 'Forced' To Live With Gay Soldiers

WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps' commandant said he won't force his troops to bunk with gays on base and would give them separate rooms if Congress votes to allow openly gay service.

The comment, by Gen. James Conway, is the latest pushback by a small but vocal faction of senior military leaders opposed to a repeal of the 1993 law known as "don't ask, don't tell."

President Barack Obama says the ban is unfair, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has launched a lengthy study to determine how to allow gays to serve openly without hurting military effectiveness.

Among the questions to be answered is whether changes to housing policies would even be necessary.

Conway, a known opponent of repealing the law, suggested in an interview published Friday by Military.com that he already knows it would be a logistical hurdle. On base, Marines typically bunk two-to-a-room.

"I would not ask our Marines to live with someone who is homosexual if we can possibly avoid it," he said.

"And to me that means we have to build BEQs (bachelor enlisted quarters) and have single rooms," he said.

Conway's remarks foreshadow the rocky political debate ahead. Gates has asked lawmakers to keep troops "out of the political dimension" of the issue, but some uniformed officers are willingly jumping in.

Earlier this month, a three-star Army general called on troops and their families to "speak up" against allowing gays to serve openly.

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, who heads Army forces for U.S. Pacific Command, was publicly admonished by Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen for using his rank to advocate a political position and challenge the president.

"There's an opportunity in this process for everyone from junior to senior" to have an opportunity to comment, Mullen said.

Mullen added that military personnel disagreeing with the nation's policies should "vote with your feet."

Comments

[terry63]

11:04 AM on 05/25/2010

In reality they wont bunk with straight soldiers, nor will they bunk with female soldiers.
You see the Military does nothing of the cuff. There are rules, regulations and traditions for every single thing it does. Pelosi is lieing to you. This military will not be openly Gay until the military learns how to deal with it, creates rules and regulations for it and builds housing for it. Conway is spot on in his comments. If you have ever served in the Military you know this is true.

[SteveMarlin]

04:07 PM on 04/21/2010

Alright so I trust those against DADT have thought this through - so exactly how SHOULD the Marines manage housing for gay Marines?

[SteveMarlin]

02:32 PM on 04/23/2010

Just what I thought.

[Stephanie Says]

10:13 PM on 04/26/2010

The same way they do now-- just like the straight ones. Just because gay service men and women can't admit to being gay doesn't mean that they aren't there. Last I checked, they are perfectly sound sleeping with straight people right now, so why would things change? It's not like once some stupid rule is repealed they'll be all over each other every chance they get.

[sabestu]

07:43 PM on 04/08/2010

This general should get on his damn high horse and ride away into the sunset and never be seen again...what an idiot!

[underland]

08:40 PM on 04/01/2010

Uh, don't troops live with gay soldiers now?

[James Lewman]

06:56 PM on 04/01/2010

The military is not back peddling they are lying they were liars when I was in ( 68 ) and they are lying now
nothing has changed. I hope they make it so difficult for gays that they all leave and one day the Military will look up and say where did every body go. That is the day I will PARTY

[AuntieLola]

12:06 PM on 03/30/2010

What on earth are they afraid of? They're sharing space with gay and bisexual men and women now, and the only difference with folks who are allowed to be openly gay is the mind of the fearful.

Someone (gay, active duty, closeted by necessity) once opined to me that what servicemen fear most is not that their gay brothers will find them attractive, but that they won't. ;)

[txrunner]

10:28 AM on 03/30/2010

Being a gay man - I can assure the General that the majority of gays in the military are Marines.

He probably doesn't have to worry about sleeping arrangements - they will have them decorated in no time!

[wilray]

02:10 PM on 03/30/2010

LOL. Fanned.

[hackerblaster]

07:32 AM on 03/30/2010

It is very heartwarming to see a lot of marines come into these threads and show their support for their brothers and sisters who are gay.

[rjhuntington]

07:01 AM on 03/30/2010

Gen James Conway will do as he is told or he will be retired. End of story. Conway may be the Marine Commandant but he does not make the rules for the Marines, Congress does. He'll obey his orders or he'll step aside, period.

[Frenbar]

05:15 AM on 03/30/2010

I don't see anything wrong with this. Until they start bunking men and women in the same room its illogical to force soldiers to sleep and shower with homosexuals.

[rjhuntington]

07:11 AM on 03/30/2010

Frenbar said, "Until they start bunking men and women in the same room its illogical to force soldiers to sleep and shower with homosexuals."

But soldiers already bunk and shower next to both straight and gay members of the rank and file. The only change would be not dismissing perfectly good soldiers for no reason. What about the armed forces of other countries where straight/gay is a non-issue? They don't have a problem with it. Neither will we.

Consider that everyone must have gay friends, gay relatives, gay coworkers and gay associates, whether they think so or not. Even if only one person in ten is gay (and the number could be twice that, but even at 1:10) it is a mathematical certainty that everyone has gay friends, relatives, coworkers and associates.

[XME]

11:00 AM on 03/30/2010

Yes, they bunk with them know, but they do not bunk with women, because they KNOW they are women. Once soldiers are permitted to be OPENLY gay, there should be consideration for seperate quarters...for the exact same reason that women and men are housed seperately. It wouldn't bother me to bunk with lesbians, however, both they and straight people should have that option to not be housed together..

[Frenbar]

06:58 PM on 03/30/2010

"But soldiers already bunk and shower next to both straight and gay members of the rank and file. The only change would be not dismissing perfectly good soldiers for no reason."

Wrong. Under the old regime, gays had to keep it to themselves. It's quite different to force soldiers to shower with other naked men then are openly gay then it is to shower next to men who are forbidden from revealing their sexual preference. If you can't understand the problems with showering naked with an openly gay man I can't explain them to you.

[Bob Kellerman]

03:41 AM on 04/01/2010

HOW DENSE CAN YOU GET?

A-- Marines like it in the rear, but don't call themselves gay now, and still will not when the discriminatory rules enc.
B--Most AWARE soldiers,sailors, etc, have knowingly showered in front of gays
C-- Why are the OLD FARTS LIKE US arguing this? We arent in the ranks.

LAST -- EVERY SINGLE SERVICE PERSON HAS SHOWERED WITH GAY PEOPLE IN HIGH SCHOOL, WHETHER THEY WERE SURE WHO OR NOT

[Commonwealth]

04:33 AM on 03/30/2010

I still don't understand what is wrong with "don't ask, don't tell". Sex is a private matter, best left to the parties who are engaged in it, hopefully behind closed doors. If you're gay, I don't want you to share that with me; and if you're straight, I don't want to know that. Either way, it is none of my business. There is a difference between "living in the closet" where one has to actively hide; and living privately behind closed doors where what you do is no one's business but their own. The need to talk about one's sexuality and let everyone else know it is a product of a society in which people have forgotten basic human modesty, what used to be called "decency" or "decorum". This has nothing to do with sexual identity or preference and everything to do with respect for oneself and one's partner.

[JackNasty]

04:41 AM on 03/30/2010

So, when heterosexual soldiers talk about their husbands and wives it's all right. When gay soldiers mention their husbands or wives they can be discharged.

It’s time to drop this ridiculous double standard.

[rjhuntington]

07:14 AM on 03/30/2010

What about sharing pictures of loved ones? What about talking about the one you can't wait to get home to? What about talk of family events? All ok for straight people but not for gay people? Not very fair, is it?

[Stephanie Says]

10:20 PM on 04/26/2010

What's the problem? Let's see. My brother is a Marine, and whenever he has liberty(time where he doesn't have to report to anybody and can do whatever he pleases for x amount of time), him and his friends like to go places where they can meet women. They like to talk about their girlfriends and fiancées and share fond memories of somebody they love.

My best friend is also in the military(the Army, to be exact), and every time somebody else talks about their boyfriend or girlfriend, she just has to kind of nod off the subject. It doesn't matter that her girlfriend is the sweetest person in the world, and that she bought my friend the necklace that she wears all of the time that she can, until she is able to get her a ring and have it mean something more substantial than just being girlfriends. Is that fair? Not really, I don't think so.

It's also not fair that there are people who have lost their place in the military simply because they've admitted their love and how they love. Just because they say they're gay doesn't mean that they're trying to sleep with everybody in their platoon or whatever. It just means that they're sharing a part of themselves with people they are supposed to trust their lives with.

[anastomosis]

04:08 AM on 03/30/2010

Marines have double beds?

[mamacat]

05:17 AM on 03/30/2010

That was my thought too. Since when were servicepeople in any branch expected to sleep two to a bed? I would like to have a separate bunk, whatever the other sleeping arrangements might be.

[JackNasty]

03:00 AM on 03/31/2010

No, they just have double standards.

[ProudMilVet]

04:00 AM on 03/30/2010

General, since you're on the subject of Bunks. Can you tell us, are you a Top or a Bottom Man ?

[BBinMT]

01:41 AM on 03/30/2010

Separate, but equal?

[Oonagh]

12:17 AM on 03/30/2010

This old guy needs to move with the times.. and move into reality.