Ask If It Matters To You; Tell If You Want To

Finally, after millions of hours, millions of dollars and millions of blog posts and other Internet chatter, gays and lesbians can serve in the military without fear of discharge if they choose to reveal their sexuality. From arguments about protecting "unit cohesion" to avoiding "unwanted advances", opponents of dumping a hastily drafted policy on who merited the right to serve in their nation's military lost their fight. Their fight included some of the nastiest, uninformed, poorly reasoned comments I have ever heard. Both my father and stepfather served honorably in the military during the 1960s. Despite my father's relative conservatism and my stepfather's relatively progressive views, they both agreed that it was profoundly stupid to imply or directly state that one's sexual orientation had anything to do with honorable service. They both served with men whom they knew were gay and both told me they never, ever had a problem befriending or working with gay military personnel. Frankly, it would not have mattered to me if they said the exact opposite.

Although votes were taken and the end of the debate was reported as coming from the U.S. Senate, the extenstion of full civil rights are not about majority rule. Civil rights guarantees are embedded in the United States Constitution and are in many cases designed to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. Social mores change. The beauty of the Constitution is its modern relevance and elasticity. It practically invites us to search every day for those who have been left out of its promise of equality and work to include them in it. It is perhaps the best living document on the planet and has helped make us a wealthy, stable, forward thinking global power. What weakens our influence abroad is the abandonment of the principles we preach to other nations as essential in a civilized society.

This past week is one important example of how a civilized society can come to terms with social change with little or no bloodshed. It is part of the reason so many people try desperately and even risk their lives to emigrate to the United States, despite its unresolved flaws. My heart goes out to the families and friends of gay soldiers who were dishonorably discharged because of who they loved or were or in some cases paid for their service by being murdered by their fellow soldiers. They are heroes and they deserve our recognition and our gratitude.