I never thought this day would come

[dsc]

Today, finally, gay service people can serve their country openly. Not only is this important for our service people who have served in silence since literally the beginning of the republic (Von Steuben was gay), but it is also important four our civil rights as a whole. This day was brought to us by many, many people. Chief among them are the generations of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who fought this policy in courts and the court of public opinion. Some of the heavy hitters, but not a complete list, Leonard Matlovich, Margarethe Cammermeyer, Keith Meinhold, Allen Schindler, Dan Choi, Victor Fehrenbach, and the touching young man on youtube. Another group which deserves credit are the politicians which worked hard to get it passed. Chief in this club are Pelosi, Murphy, Lieberman, Reid, and Obama. An assist goes to those who did what can sometimes be the bravest thing a gay man can do, living out lives, in this case as teens. One big difference between 93 and now was that servicemen flipped from being nearly unamamously opposed to being largely in favor of gays serving openly. I am convinced that teens who were out in their small town, southern high schools have a big part to do with this change. Those very brave teens deserve some credit.

My dad served in the army in the early 1950's. Prior to the civil rights movement, it was the one place in American society, especially in the South, where whites were made to treat blacks as superiors much less equals. For those whites it normalized the notion of a desegregated society just like the ending of DADT will help normalize the inclusion of gays. We don't have a draft now, like my dad faced then, but the military is the most conservative part of society and the most skeptical of the inclusion of gays. They are the ones who most need that message.

It has been a mostly great day, though marred by the Buffalo suicide, but this day did finally come.

[babylonsister]

1. Rec'd with thanks for naming some of the people who were crucial

in making this happen.

It's a grand day for so many people who deserved this way before now.

[bigwillq]

2. K and R

:bounce: :thumbsup: :hug:

[young but wise]

3. K&R.

[NYC_SKP]

4. K/R, and yes, a tragic day as well, 14 year old Jamey Rodemeyer.

Creator of "It Gets Better", committed suicide.

http://unicornbooty.com/2011/09/14-year-old-it-gets-better-filmmaker-commits-suicide-after-endless-bullying/

So sad, tragic.

:cry: