>Cynthia Enloe's new book, Maneuvers: The International Politics of
>Militarizing WOmens Lives, has a good analysis of this -- she argues that
>the human interest stories, as framed by both the mainstream media and the
>mainstream gay movement, reinforced the notion that people who want to serve
>in the military are by definition admirable citizens. That the gays in the
>military campaign actually helped legitimize the military and affirmed the
>idea of military service as a noble calling. I think that's a big part of
>how it became such a big deal in the U.S. -- public sentimentality about
>military heroism combined with pressing government interest in fostering
>that sentimentality.
Good points! The radical wing of GLBT activists have often said that the focus on the gay ban in the military as the number one issue was forced on the GLBT community by the Clinton administration and gay politicos who were proud of "access" & anxious to mainstream gay politics. And in the process more important issues -- health care, etc. -- got neglected.
Yoshie