Was that
it? We looked at one another in disbelief.
Where were the fireworks? The marching
bands? Or, in the worst nightmares of our
opponents, the immediate and complete
collapse of the United States? It didn’t
seem real. After eight years of fighting, it
couldn’t be over just like that.
On
Saturday, 18 December 2010, the
United States Senate voted 65 - 31 to
repeal the law banning gay, lesbian and
bisexual men and women from serving honestly
and openly in the US Armed Services.
Anticlimactic. I knew the meaning of the
word, but until that moment I had never felt
it. For the rest of my life when I hear that
word I will think back on that moment when I
was seated in the Senate Gallery and
listened to
Senator Evan Bayh’s
plain words and moderate tone
announce the death sentence for Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell.
I remained
in Washington, DC, over the weekend and was
privileged to be part of the audience for
the Speaker of the House of Representatives
enrollment ceremony and later the
Presidential
signing ceremony where the bill
finally became law. I came out in 2002 and
have fought to repeal the law for eight
years. So many others have fought much
longer - easier to count in decades than
years - to end DADT and its ancestors. After
all that time it just didn’t seem right to
end it so quietly.
Satisfied.
That’s the word I use now to describe my
feelings about repealing DADT. Like the end
of a delicious meal, I feel full, but I know
hunger will return. I’ll need to eat again.
The legislation passed and signed into law
does not repeal DADT outright, instead it
begins a process of repeal that President
Obama has said will be “swift” and
“efficient.”
We can
take this holiday season to catch our
breath, but we must prepare ourselves for
coming challenges. There remain enemies who
oppose us. I harbor no doubts they are
looking at every possible tactic to slow and
stop the process.
When the
regulatory repeal process is complete I will
have the chance to eat again as I plan to
reenter the military. Still the process will
not be done. Even now the eyes of critics
are watching our brothers- and
sisters-in-arms to see how they handle the
news of repeal. As we reenter the services
and our fellow gay, lesbian and bisexual
Americans already living outside the closet
volunteer to serve for the first time, only
more attention will be directed our way.
As members
of a minority each of us is an ambassador to
the majority and our individual actions will
be interpreted to represent every gay,
lesbian and bisexual service member. This
isn’t new, but the end of DADT has disrupted
the status quo and the way we are seen by
some. We should recognize and remember this,
but ultimately, we should continue serving
as we already have: honorably and
heroically.
When the
process is complete our military will not be
better for ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It
will be better for reinforcing and expanding
integrity and dignity in service to America
- the nation, the people, the idea.
Confident.
That’s how I feel about the future after
repeal is complete - the not-too-distant
future.