Not one specifically for me, mind – I’m being bitch-slapped around by anxiety and depression. But, in the scheme of things, it’s a very good day indeed, because:

‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ ban on gays in US military ends
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14981082

Now, if only that had been the case when I was in – there were a few girls that I were crushing on so hard… and all of my boys (I was a bit of a fag hag, of course) wouldn’t’ve been a risk of vindictive booting. Because in intelligence, most people are bright and observant enough to tell who swings what ways… and almost nobody cared. The point was to do the job, to be a member of a team – who you boned in your off-time was your business alone.

I admit that I have always had one niggling concern though with the (what I considered) inevitable repeal – ‘rednecks’. When I was doing a few weeks of recruiter’s assistance, I clearly recall a young man. Mulleted and countrified in accent, he sat there and told me how proud he was to be enlisting because, and I quote, ‘No gays.’ I bit my lip and tried to not smile; the weekend before I had been ferrying gay friends across Texas back to base before curfew when their ride mysteriously never showed up. But that’s the thing – there were kids who actually thought that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ meant that there WEREN’T any gays, and it sort of hurt my brain. Likewise, you had your standard sexist replies from males that ‘lesbians were okay, hur hur’, but were concerned that a gay guy was going to bone ’em in the shower. Sweetie, you ain’t THAT pretty, ha ha.

Whatever the case, I am proud to call myself a veteran of the United States military, and salute their wisdom in leading an equality charge. That the partners of gay serving members can be insured and be proudly listed as their family; it just makes me want to cry in joy. Now, if only they get on the ball with addressing all the unaddressed/ignored rape cases (and when stupid girls caught cheating stop crying rape, which also happens a lot), there might be a good thing going. Not good enough for me to want to go back, as the whole culture wasn’t really for me, but I’m all for things being more fair and mete and proper and healthy.