FollowUp 1: Sailors Embrace

Randy Thomasson is featured in a column for the American Family Association deriding the lovely kiss of Ms. Gaeta and Ms. Snell that graced newspapers across the country.

A pro-family leader says a public embrace between two lesbian sailors proves that homosexual activists are taking every effort to celebrate the federal government's repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

Here I have to agree with Mr. Thomasson.  We should celebrate the repeal of DADT.  Ms. Gaeta and Ms. Snell are a noteworthy couple for their normal kiss.

A public kiss between two lesbians in the U.S. Navy is being dubbed "the kiss heard 'round the world.'" The Los Angeles Times reports that homosexual activists who sought a repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are applauding Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta's kiss with her girlfriend Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell. The couple embraced on a Navy dock in Virginia following Gaeta's return last week from an 80-day deployment to Central America aboard the Oak Hill.

Heard 'round the world overstates the kiss and the applause.  It was good but not revolutionary.

David Bauer, commanding officer of the Oak Hill, told The Associated Press that the kiss was "going to happen, and the crew's going to enjoy it." The couple's kiss marks the first time that a same-sex couple has been chosen to have the first kiss tradition for Navy ships returning home.

And the C.O. of the Oak Hill was right.  There was cheering on the dock ... just as there always is for the first kiss when a ship returns to its home port.  Just as there always is because for the sailors of the Oak Hill and their families, this is just normal.

Randy Thomasson of SaveCalifornia.com is familiar with the tactics of homosexual activists in California, home to both Gaeta and Snell.

Mr. Thomasson has been active attempting to protect some families from other (gay) families for a long time.

"San Diego, being the top Navy port on the West Coast, has an aggressive homosexual activist community which is just applauding this big time, saying 'it's delightful,' saying, 'it's fantastic,'" he laments.

Celebrating a couple coming together after three months apart, celebrating a kiss that made headlines, celebrating equality.  Yes, we are and should be celebrating.  Mr. Thomasson must be a very sad man to lament such celebration.

Sailors purchased $1 tickets at a raffle to raise money for a Christmas party for children whose parents are in the military. Gaeta purchased $50 worth of tickets, and the lesbian couple was chosen to have the first kiss.

It is common for sailors to purchase even more than fifty tickets.  Since the money goes to charity and the tickets can be used by the returning sailors who don't win as part of the message, "I love you even more than this."  By random draw, and fifty tickets does not overly change the odds, Ms. Gaeta and Ms. Snell won.

Thomasson argues that is not what the military is for. "It's about a fighting force to defend our shores, to defend our interests, and to advance the cause of the United States' security in the world," he tells OneNewsNow. "I would not make it social engineering that the Navy has done it, and now perverse social engineering."

One of the reasons that DADT was hurting the military is that it interfered with ordinary morale boosters, like the first kiss tradition.  Maintaining morale is a crucial element of keeping our fighting forces the best in the world.

The purpose of DADT was not to improve the fighting force, it was to protect soldiers and sailors from unwanted homosexuality.  This was not a real issue and still is not.  Homosexuality is not contagious.  Without DADT, rape is still illegal and always will be.

Allowing Ms. Gaeta and Ms. Snell the first kiss is not social engineering, they were already lesbian and that wasn't going to change.  Their kiss and the repeal of DADT do not create new lesbians or gays.  These events allow expression of a reality that has Mr. Thomasson very uncomfortable, but does not change that reality other than removing legislated discrimination and moving toward acceptance of our fellow citizens.  Maybe one day Mr. Thomasson can move beyond his hate and accept human beings as the Golden Rule says we should.

22 December 2011, Original Pedantic Political Ponderings post.

28 February 2012, FollowUp 2.

5 March 2012, FollowUp 3.

Praise: Sailors Embrace

This is already all over the web, but it really is nice to see how widespread a picture of love can be.  The picture by Brian Clark of the Virginian Pilot is wonderful.

Marissa Gaeta (left) and Citlalic Snell enjoy the first kiss ashore.

Wonderful enough that the Washington Post picked up the story of how Petty Officer 2nd class Marissa Gaeta won the raffle on the Oak Hill, the ship on which Ms. Gaeta serves, for the first to go ashore and kiss her sweetie upon docking.  Her sweetie is Petty Officer 3rd class Citlalic Snell, making this the first same-sex first kiss in Navy history.

Part of what is so wonderful about this is that it was treated as normal by the Navy and by the ship.  The Washington Post spoke with the C.O. of the Oak Hill.

David Bauer, the commanding officer of the USS Oak Hill, said that Gaeta and Snell’s kiss would largely be a non-event and the crew’s reaction upon learning who was selected to have the first kiss was positive.

“It’s going to happen and the crew’s going to enjoy it. We’re going to move on and it won’t overshadow the great things that this crew has accomplished over the past three months,” Bauer said.

The title of the Stars and Stripes article has the same perspective.  "Female Sailors Dockside Smooch Sails Past Navy Tradition"

A big deal for Petty Officers Gaeta and Snell as it should be.  Since P.O. Gaeta's fellow sailors had three months in close proximity with her since their tour to Central America started, they already know well who she is.  Once we are talking about individuals who we know, gays and lesbians are as human as straights (each with flaws and each with positive attributes).  I'm delighted for them, that they were cheered, and that this is likely not a seminal moment in their lives.

28 December 2011, FollowUp 1.

28 February 2012, FollowUp 2.

5 March 2012, FollowUp 3.