Today, “don’t ask, don’t tell” officially ends, which means that from now on you can be openly lesbian or gay in the U.S. military, just like in the rest of the developed world; the Clinton-era law was repealed last December, but the policy change didn’t go into effect until now. You won’t see much attention to this, which is a sure sign that lesbians and gay men have all but won the “culture wars” of the 1980s and 1990s. But here’s a bit, since gay and lesbian service members deserve it. OutServe, an organization that says it represents currently enlisted LGBT service members, just released a survey of more than 500 LGBT troops — self-selected, not randomly chosen — who think that the changeover will be a big yawn. Seventy-eight percent say they are already out in their unit, at least to some. Here’s more:
Thirty-eight percent said they had come out to more people since the DADT law was repealed. Asked if they would take a significant other to a unit event, 30% said “definitely,” and another 29% said they “likely” would. This optimistic response is also reflected in how they expect their units will treat LGB members: two-thirds indicated they expected their colleagues would treat them “universally” or “generally” with respect, and free from discrimination.
With DADT down, DOMA trembling — the latest: Prop 8 trial tapes must be made public — and attitudes toward same-sex marriage warming month by month, lesbians and gay men keep trudging along toward full legal equality and social acceptance in this country. Yes, there are some big holes in that acceptance, but nothing like this:
- Two weeks ago, Iran executed three men for having sex with other men.
- In Cameroon, according to the group AllOut, there’s been an arrest sweep, with men “snatched from their homes and public places and thrown in jail just for being gay.” Agence-France Press reports that seven Cameroonian men total have recently been arrested. Two of them are standing trial for homosexuality, in part, the BBC reports, because they look feminine.
