Fairness - The Commentary

In 2012, 26,000 women and men reported sexual assault in the American military. We have no record of how much remains unreported. That’s only one year of victimization in what military brass admitted before Congress was a “cancer.” If it weren’t for the seven women on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I’d expect such reports to be buried. Hearing so many of the old Congressmen respond to this with stupidity, sexism, and pseudo-science, even surprised those of us who expect so little out of right-wing politicians. And blaming the existence of women in the military ignores the fact that 14,000 of those victims were men. That’s 6.1% of the women in the military and 1.2% of the men. And 98% of the reported sexual assaults on men were committed by other men. In one of the most insightful analyses of this epidemic, Ana Marie Cox of  The Guardian  concludes: “it’s something about being in the military  today , at this moment in history, fighting the kinds of wars w...

There’s still a need for opportunities to show that LGBT people are not only here but are glad they are. I’m not sure the best way to do it is through today’s versions of Pride Festivals, but nevertheless, I’m convinced that any opportunity for LGBT people to show to others that they like who they are is a gift to society as a whole. Most people have gotten use to the idea that LGBT people exist. They might even have come to tolerate the fact that some could be attending their church and providing them with their music. They might have come to know that they could be working with some. And they might even suspect that they have an uncle or aunt that’s one of those people. People are accustomed to laughing at them on network sitcoms. As they have with many minority groups, they’re tickled with the idea of LGBT people serving up their food and entertainment. They might deplore the attacks on LGBT people and the suicides of lesbian and gay teenagers who were bullied by their pee...