No, they didn't raise a rainbow flag, or have Naval soldiers in sailor suits performing "YMCA" or "In The Navy," but they did take the time to respecfully honor and acknowledge the sacrifices of gay and lesbian servicemembers.
The Washington Times reports that the Pentagon selected three individuals including a gay Marine officer and a West Point graduate to talk about their experience in the military during "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and in the months since its repeal.
One soldier, Capt. Matthew Phelps spoke of his positive experience.
Capt. Phelps saids, “I happen to be gay, but more importantly, I’m a Marine."
According to the Times, "Capt. Phelps told of serving in Iraq with heterosexual officers who would gather Saturday nights to smoke cigars and talk about family back home. He said he had to remain quiet in the back of the room.
'By virtue of the fact that I wasn’t allowed to say anything, I was actually growing more distant from my unit,' he said. 'We hear people talk about unit cohesion and how is the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ going to affect unit cohesion. I would argue it got better.'"
If incorporation into the horrific war machine constitutes progress, then death to progress. The present LGBT movement makes a mockery of its revolutionary roots.
