Don't Ask, Don't Tell

I know, you're probably thinking, "Oh girl, do you really want to go there?"  Yes, I do and I am.

This past December, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was officially repealed, years after several thousand service members had been discharged on the basis of sexual orientation.  For many of us from the young, and seemingly more liberal, generation it's hard to imagine why this policy was put into place to begin with.  If you look back, racial segregation was in place until the 1950s and it took until the 1970s before women were allowed to serve.

Unless you lived during the days of serious racial and gender discrimination, it's nearly impossible to imagine being told as a woman, or as a black man, that you're not good enough to stand watch on a ship or fly a jet or wear combat boots.  But, to many, that was reality.

I am amazed by the courage of all of our service members, but I am even more wow-ed by the women, the blacks, the Hispanics, the immigrants, and the gay members who dealt with the discrimination and dealt with the criticism because they still wanted to protect our country.  It takes a truly strong individual to protect a country and work alongside people that may not accept who you are.

Our military - and our country - have come a long way.  While there will always be some individuals who will never accept another person who they believe goes against their personal beliefs, it's wonderful to see how our military has improved by acceptance.  Women were recently given the right to serve on submarines and there are thousands of non-whites serving and proving themselves everyday to be true heroes.

It will no doubt take some time for some to adjust to living with a gay roommate on a ship or working alongside a gay comrade, but I believe eventually we will be able to look back on these days, as we do with racial and gender segregation, and think, "Wow, did we really descrimate like that? I can't imagine doing that today."

As the popular phrase goes, "When all is said and done..." I believe we will all look at what is important.  It's not whether someone is white or black, man or woman, gay or straight, but that that individual is willing to serve, and serve well, for our country, and in my opinion, that automatically makes him/her a hero.