Umm, the gay bomb…?

You know, I step away from blogging for a week or so, and the world somehow becomes more ludicrous. John Tomasic over at Pop + Politics has this story about a 1994 US government plan to develop bombs that would drop hormone bombs on enemy soldiers, the contents of which would render combatants gay. (He also has some more great pix from Worth 1000).

On the same site, you might also want to check out JB Powell’s review of Dollan Cannell’s 63 Ways to Kill Castro. Oh wait, everything has always been ludicrous….

I like that the rationale behind this tax-dollar plot is that, by making enemy combatants gay, you would thus successfully turn their attention from fighting “us” to loving each other. According to Edward Hammond, who used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain information about this plan,

The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistably attractive to one another.

That is genius. Homophobic, but genius. And kind of doubly perverse, for it not only assumes that gay men cannot soldier-up, but even if the plot’s premise were true– does it mean that we would make them happy and gay and then kill them? What kind of sicko shit is that?

But, wait a minute. I am reminded here of last season’s testosterone fest, 300. The Persians are all slinky and decadent, the Spartans honorable and pectorally enhanced. What the movie doesn’t tell us, however, is that the Spartan army historically encouraged homosexuality because it made them better fighters, more willing to undergo intense training, and to fight and die for each other.

This means, then, that those hormone-bombed soldiers might have totally kicked our homophobic asses… to the tune of the Gap Band:

Yes, genius. We are all geniuses. Early in the morning…