"As commander in chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness," Obama said in a statement.
But numerous issues remain about extending benefits to gays and lesbians, same-sex housing and how the military will resolve discrimination complaints by gay service members. Those challenges are likely to remain sources of tension, lawsuits and policy controversy for years, according to legal experts and gay rights activists.
Even more uncertain is how quickly a conservative institution that for years has forced gays to keep their sexual orientation secret — and often tolerated homophobic slurs — can adapt to a new environment in which gays will live and work openly with straight service members, including in combat.
Doesn't effect us , but If your straight you cant shower with the opposite sex , cause untoward things might happen
But if your a gay man it seems you can share the same showering arrangements, would be pretty off,
to see a guy in the shower next to you looking at you with a big bannana!!
oh yeah, itd also be terrible if one of those gays saved your life in combat to wouldnt it. 
The fact that they are in the military is not the issue I was on about .
Just that showering might be an issue
There is an easy answer to this problem.
Close down the US military and replace it with a volunteer civilian militia that is trained to defend the country against invasion similarly to how the 'insurgent' fight in Iraq and Aghanistan. Any American of good character could join. It would not matter if you were a ****ter or not. No need to worry about housing coz there are no military houses to live in.
To supplement this defense against attack the Americans could have a small fleet of nuclear submarines carrying missiles with multiple nuclear warheads. Homosexuals could have their own boat to keep them happy if they wanted one. So any country that did invade or attack America would know the result would be nuclear annihilation.
The advantages of this policy are many. People would find more productive work than learning how to kill people or doing nothing much all day. Industry could be turned to more productive enterprise. America would be less hated by much of the world. Americans would no longer worship their military and as the country becomes demilitarized people might become more peaceful. Trillions of dollars would be saved annually and the country would be saved from bankruptcy.
to see a guy in the shower next to you looking at you with a big bannana!!
Was a post put up to get some humerous comments comming , but as usual , we all got to soooo serious
sorry, sometimes humour doesnt come through on the written form, and sarcasm NEVER does.
otherwise, just supply ice cubes in every cubicle.
Anyway such behavior who never be tolerated in Australia's army.
As the old Bruce Ruxton, past RSL Vic president, might have said "any p00fters in the trenches and we'd be right on top of them"
Only Queers and Steers come from Texas, and I don't see no horns on you!
Well that's alright then isn't it, do you want a Mai Tai?
"ANYONE... dumb enough to want to join the military should be allowed in....
aren't you all just a bunch of hired killers....?
don't want any GAYS near me when I'm killin' kids...' Bill Hicks
Played footy with a couple of gay guys (that I know of). None of us knew until about 3 rounds before the last game they were caught out playing tonsil hockey. Finished the season as a team, won the premiership without any homophobic reaction (good crew of guys - best team I've been a part of, all mates), and as for showering with them...initially freaked a bit, followed by disappointment that I obviously wasn't their type.
As for the military - typical testosterone driven homophobic culture.
From here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Band_of_Thebes
The Sacred Band under Pelopidas fought the Spartans at Tegyra in 375 BC, routing an army that was at least three times its size...
The spartans were no slouches when it came to warfare, they were widely considered to be the sort of people who you really didn't want to have a war with.
And yet the Thebes army (composed of male couples) smashed them to bits.
Just sayin'
Right back atya Mark 
Although I haven't been shot at so I guess can't have an opinion on this one...
(quite glad I haven't been shot at though!)
