A Spot of Feet Licking with the Troops

My old Twitter logo comprised of feet sticking out of a tent. It was designed to suggest the sexual whilst being ambiguous about gender but quite a few of you apparently just enjoyed the feet.

Clearly, I've been neglecting you as of late with the absence of feet. Feet remain one of those fetishes we don't talk about. Leather, rubber are getting there, slowly progressing - leather more so than rubber. BDSM is becoming more maisntream - the idea of oral sex is mainstream today (I would suggest) but other 'fetishes' remain silenced - foot worship amongst them. The blog - The Sword (may be NSFW) has just posted a YouTube click of an alleged soldier licking another soldiers foot, apparently in Afghanistan. My favourite moment is when someone says "just imagine it's a cock" as if straight guys fellating another guy is far less of a taboo than licking a foot which when you think about it, is kinda interesting. It's also rather interesting how behaviour becomes acceptable in certain circumstances. There's a whole porn business based on the storyline of bored soldiers end up fucking around but it's interesting how behaviours shift from the taboo to the acceptable in these settings and the exploration of identity than take place.

Obama and Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I'm slightly puzzled by this story. The media was trailing on Friday/Saturday that Obama would be addressing the Human Rights Campaign on Saturday in a bid to re-connect with gay Americans who feel the Democrat administration has so far failed to live up to their campaign promises. I've discussed in earlier posts the general mood among gay activists and lawyers in the US based on my time over there during the summer. I have to confess, I wasn't holding my breath for anything dramatic. It's just as well. The BBC reports the story with a bit of fanfare - 'Obama to end military gay policy'. This is the Clinton era policy that nobody can ask you if you are gay, and you shouldn't tell anyone. If you are 'publicly' gay then you will be discharged. It's a barmy compromise but was arguably better than an all out ban. Obama's latest statement is actually a re-statement of previous commitments. He offered no timetable and no concrete path forward on achieving it. In reality, he gave nothing. America has a very different political and constitutional system to the one we have in the UK, making it much harder to pass reforming legislation and a slower process. However, Obama can show leadership and this simply isn't good enough.

The speech can be viewed via the BBC link and on the HRC website.

Blair Unbound

As 2007 draws to a close it's worth remembering that 2007 saw the long anticipated (at least for Gordon Brown if no-one else) transition from Blair to Brown. The end of 2007 saw the second volume of Blair's Seldon biography published - Blair Unbound. I've been working through the text in the last couple of days and what I find striking is that although this volumes starts in 2001 and runs until 2007, the sexuality agenda is rather lacking. You might have expected civil partnerships for example to be located somewhere in the index but no, it is conspicuously absent. Though Blair will probably be remembered as a Prime Minister who had it all and blew it on an unpopular war, he was genuinely transformative on the social agenda. The age of consent, repeal of section 28, Civil partnerships, Gay Adoption Rights, Gay Forces Personnel, Goods and Services and crucially in setting a national tone in which those things become normalised.

Army Chief brands homosexuality "immoral"

Interesting story from the USA this week that had the potential (and doesn't seem to so far) of re-igniting the gays int he military debate. The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (head army honcho in lay language) told Congress:

"My upbringing tells me that sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage between a man and a woman is immoral. That's what I was taught. That's what I believe."

General Peter Pace is due to stand down this week which probably explains the reason for his candour. He did accept that homosexuals could serve in the armed forces provided they were celibate. A career in the Church of England beckons...

Unsurprisingly he was widely condemned by a wide range of people including Sgt. Eric Alva, the first soldier wounded in the Iraq war, who recently came out. What is different is that his comments were also criticized by the REPUBLICAN Defence Secretary Robert Gates. Not sure former secretary Rumsfeld would have done the same! This is an issue that could come back into the political arena though. Given the series of early party debates taking place it wouldn't be surprising to see candidates asked a question regarding this matter. There answers could prove interesting.

Read the full article at: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5581.html