Today the US Senate voted to repeal the ban on gay Americans serving openly in our military. The bill, already approved by the House of Representatives, will go to President Obama, who has indicated he would sign it, ending a shameful legacy of state-sanctioned homophobia and discrimination.
In keeping with our long-standing motto: “You don’t get a cookie for doing the right thing,” I’m not going to congratulate Congress for finally—FINALLY!—voting to repeal. I am, however, extremely happy that they did.
It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions.
—Harvey Milk
PS: You may enjoy celebrating by queering up this Fox News poll. The questions are all phrased problematically, of course, but you know which to vote for.
I’ve been reading various stories and feeds, and I’ve seen some concern that while this is no doubt an unqualified good, and ABSURDLY overdue, the repeal of DADT is not actually a guarantee of equal treatment of queer service members.
And apparently since the head of the USMC is a raging homobigot, things might not change a whole lot. I have a cousin who is pretty up there in the Corps and who I’ll be seeing over the holidays; I’ll be interested (and actually a bit fearful) to hear his take on this.
But for now, I want to celebrate, and hug and kiss and thank Lt. Dan Choi, who fought for this so hard.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vyckie D. Garrison. Vyckie D. Garrison said: @TPoHarpyness: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Is Repealed: Today the US Senate voted to repeal the ban… http://bit.ly/ggslGS #feminist #women [...]
I am astounded that Congress actual did something RIGHT (lolsob that I should be astounded by that).
I hope the transition is not too difficult for LGBT troops (ie, not too many asshat behavior by others) as this goes into effect.
Dorkie, it will be like integration and bringing women into the services. Some will adapt without a problem, some will welcome the change enthusiastically, and some will be obstructionist. In the end, lgbt troops will win. And making it the law means there’s a way to fight bigots effectively.
Thanks for the link, Becky. Any time I can throw a monkey wrench into Fox’s evil machinery is a good day. And we’re winning their poll! *cackles evilly*
SO happy it didn’t happen through an executive order. The 10 UCMJ 12305 argument was just sloppy, disingenuous, and dangerous.
At some point you have to ask yourself if you believe the system can be revamped and reformed, or if you think short-order monkeywrenching is the only option left. I believe the former, and I think other people who do as well should have realized that congress and/or the courts, despite their flaws, were the only responsible venues in which to do this.
As a new MA-an, I’m pretty happy that our GOP senator contributed to the repeal. And I’m pleased that it got done. I’m sad about the DREAM Act, though.
The repeal is only the first step — the hard part will be getting career soldiers, sailors, and airmen, especially in the upper echelons, to operate by the new standard. Like before, first with blacks, and then with women, there will be a period of adjustment and the slow winnowing out of those with decidedly discriminatory ideas. It will take time, still, before gays are truly at home being themselves in the military, but that would not be possible without this first step.
I hope that lgbt service members who were dishonorably discharged or forced out will be able to remedy those injustices.