All week since the stroke of midnight September 20, gay, lesbian and bisexual service members have been breaking out of the closets Republican congressional leaders and then President Bill Clinton imposed on them back in 1993 with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.
The images and stories have been particularly moving. The Vermont marriage of Arizona residents Navy Lieutenant Gary Ross, 33, to partner of 11 years, Dan Swezy, 49, sparked coverage nationwide. The Youtube video of Air Force Senior Airman Randy Phillips, 21, of Alabama coming out to his father became an Internet sensation.
"For more than two centuries, we have worked to extend America's promise to all our citizens. Our armed forces have been both a mirror and a catalyst of that progress, and our troops, including gays and lesbians, have given their lives to defend the freedoms and liberties that we cherish as Americans," noted President Barack Obama, who signed into law the bill repealing DADT. "Today, every American can be proud that we have taken another great step toward keeping our military the finest in the world and toward fulfilling our nation's founding ideals."
Outside San Francisco City Hall Tuesday afternoon Retired lesbian Navy Commander Zoe Dunning joined in a community celebration of DADT's repeal after being a vocal opponent of the anti-gay policy for years. She told reporters she welcomed no longer having to be the voice for gays and lesbians in the various military branches who could not speak for themselves due to DADT.
Keeping those service members quiet has had a damaging effect on how the public conceives the LGBT community. As Nathaniel Frank, Ph.D., a senior research fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Palm Center wrote this week, "One of the most insidious - and effective - dimensions of the gay ban was that it deprived the world of witnessing gay people giving back, serving their country, exhibiting the same valor and self-sacrifice as their peers."
The right wing has been, and continues to be, fixated on gays in the military, noted Frank, because DADT's repeal shatters the myth they have created that LGBT people are self-centric and obsessed with sexual pursuits rather than serving the greater good and helping society. For that reason alone, the death of DADT marks a watershed moment for LGBT rights.
Make no mistake: While DADT's repeal is surely a welcome step forward in our long march toward full LGBT equality, it is by no means a panacea. Transgender individuals are still barred from joining the military. And while gays in the military can express themselves freely without fear of dismissal, they remain second-class citizens among the troops.
Like their civilian counterparts, LGB military personnel are still denied the roughly 1,138 rights and privileges that come with federal recognition of marriage. DADT may be gone but the antigay Defense of Marriage Act still stands and laws such as the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act remain waylaid in the GOP-controlled House.
Obama's retreat from backing marriage equality while a lawmaker in Illinois has dampened support for Obama within the LGBT community. Despite his reluctance to expressly support same-sex marriage, he has ordered his administration to pull back on enforcing DOMA as it is challenged in the courts.
And this week's events should serve as a stark reminder of what is at stake in next year's presidential election. Should the GOP reclaim the White House and gain greater control of Congress, it is very likely Republican extremists will push for re-instatement of DADT as well as roll back various pro-gay policies Obama's administration has enacted.