The prevailing (overwhelming) opinion was that discipline and professionalism - especially in an all-volunteer military - will override the desire of gay service members who might want to flaunt their sexual proclivities.
The best thing for anyone confused about their sexuality or gender identity in the military is to take just keep to yourself and focus on the job and becoming the best Marine (or soldier or sailor or airman or whatever) one can be.
From what the folks at the party I went to told me, that is precisely what the vast majority of gay servicemembers are already doing. The problem, as with any large group of people, is with a few arseholes who make a nuisance of themselves.
Thank you sharing that information.
I am hoping that if the good service members learn to stick together and not be intimidated, they should be able to deal with / counter any threats to the discipline / functioning of the unit.
As with any system that is in place to protect people from harassment or discrimination, there is always going to be the problem of how to deal with someone who is in a protected class but really needs to be let go / punished / etc.
Hopefully they will be able to come up with ways to deal with the Sh!tbirds who will try to use their protected status to escape work, avoid punishment, and in general get over on the system.
You hit the nail on the heaad with "their protected status." Whereas, your wishful thinking of "coming up with ways to deal with the Sh!tbirds," leads me to believe you are unfamiliar with - let alone having had to deal with - Congressional Inquries.
Misfits (and/or their parents) usually run to their congressman whenever things are not to their liking. In turn, the congressman fires off an inquiry to the Defense Department demanding an investigation as to why this individual is being unjustly treated.
Naturally, this inquiry trickles down-stream until it reaches the person in charge - gathering many signatures along the way of those wanting to know what-the-hell is going on. Then that person must take timeout to answer the inquiry - explaining, in detail, exactly what transpired; and it had better be thorough and well documented.
Don't know how it is now, but it didn't end there. These misfits had to be shuffled off to two other units before they could be discharged if, of course, all are of the same opinion.
In other words, it's going to become a nightmare. In addition to the degradation of unit morale and performance whenever this occurs, the wasted hours/paperwork devoted to this unwarranted intrusion will be insurmountable.