Written: 12/29/2010
Note: DADT still exists for trans service members, so our work is not quite done yet.
So DADT was finally repealed and signed by Obama. The law itself is still on the books and will be for a little bit longer, but it is on its way out. I will write as though it is gone, just for ease of sentence structure.
Of course I’m excited that the policy is gone. It should have been gone years ago. The move however, from many people around me, was largely unknown. Maybe the people around me don’t care that much about LGBT* issues (and isn’t that the truth), but no one really talked about it. Friends of Facebook commented on it, and that was heartening, and in some cases surprising, I’m always excited when I find allies in unlikely places.
I had hoped that somehow this would inspire a change in the Boy Scouts. No such luck there. At least not yet. Maybe people will still see that I’m not a monster, admit that I have worth.
And that applies in some cases to people, as well as the organization.
But for now, I continue to work, continue to be awesome at my job (and with the crazy day that I just completed, I know I will be sorely missed when I leave). I toil on, knowing that some people would love to be able to hold the fact that I could be fired over my head, but with the knowledge that things can change and get better. I need to remind myself that there are people who support me, and of course, the opposite is just as true. People can even change, and prove to have a giant heart.
I celebrate for all the gay and lesbian service members, and am happy for them, and look forward with hope.
All my best,
The King of Spades
*Just a quick side note, you can keep adding all kinds of letters (Q being the most common), however, in my head, I like to use GBLT, because, no joke, I like BLT sandwiches. But I only use that in my head.
