Celebrating 1 year of equality in the military

Today is a happy anniversary for civil rights. And it’s our number of the day: 1.

Exactly one year ago, the military policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” for gays and lesbians officially ended. It was the end of an era for discrimination. Now, where is the supposed downside we were warned about? The parade of horribles promised by John McCain and the Family Research Council?

Soldiers were going to flee the service by the hundreds of thousands. Troop unity would unravel. Recruitment numbers would drop into virtual invisibility. Well, none of it happened.

Recruitment, retention, morale and cohesion all are the same, if not better, than they were a year-and-a-day ago. More and more young recruits just don’t share the homophobia that blighted previous generations, and the military has adjusted to a new set of conditions – as it always does.

This is important to remember the next time we hear cries from organizations that resist social change. They have been wrong time and time again – about LGBT rights, racial integration, even allowing women to vote.

Despite their fears, we continue to advance equality for all people. And it continues to work.