DADT Is Dead, But There's Still More Hurdles To Come

December has been an interesting month, and I've missed a lot of great topics to write about. A few things have prevented me from writing, like increased demand at work, more effort being put in to my physical therapy as I'm still not recovering as quickly as is "normal," and increased game time in down time due to a new video game (or five) at home.

All that aside, some great things have happened over the past month. On a national scale, I'd say the biggest news is the repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don't Tell" which will allow for military service members to to keep their jobs after they've come out on the job. There's been a lot said on the subject recently and there's not much more I can add to the discussion, except that I'm happy to see the policy go. There are still quite a few challenges ahead for LGB service members (and quite a lot more challenges for Ts), but we've made it over the big hurdle.

It still remains unclear though exactly how equal we will be in the military ranks. We can serve openly now (or rather once the repeal is fully implemented), but other major discrepancies will still need to be worked out. What about the pay scale difference married heterosexual soldiers get? DOMA still prevents gay and lesbian people from having Federal marriage recognition, even if their marriage is certified in a state that recognizes marriages between same-sex couples, and since the military is Federal organization it simply cannot honor all marriages. Yet the variation in pay difference is clear, biased discrimination. How about off-base housing options for same-sex couples and off-base housing pay differential? How about health insurance benefits for partners?

Many, many questions still need to be answered. My guess is many of these questions will be addressed before full repeal is implemented, which is part of the reason for the need for a delay, but I'm also going to venture that many of these will require long, grueling court battles before any real equality is achieved.

None of this is even taking in to account the systemically homophobic systems of the military. Culture change is also necessary to achieve equality. I think the culture of the military will change with time, but this repeal is the first step in allowing that change to begin. While the military brass were allowed to play make believe that no homo-gays were in their ranks they could easily condone homophobic behavior, if for no other reason than because no one complained about it. How could a soldier complain about how being called a "fag" by their commanding officer hurt them while maintaining their silence on their sexuality? While there certainly were ways to address that, I'd wager that most gays wouldn't dream of complaining for fear of being suspected.

I suppose I could wrap this up by saying I'm realistically optimistic at this point. There will be many, many more challenges for LGB service members, but I still think that we, as a country, can overcome those challenges. It may take some time, but we'll get there.