The Senate today voted 63-33 to move forward with the bill to repeal DADT. With the House already having passed the same bill and the Senate now only needing a simple majority (51) for the bill to pass it looks like DADT will soon be history.
TalkingPointsMemo is now reporting that the final vote on the repeal measure is today at 3:00pm. December 18, 2010 looks like it is shaping up to be a most wonderful (Christmas came early) day for so many people.
This hits particularly close to home because most of you know that I was discharged from active duty in the 1990s after having admitted to having had a homosexual relationship. I was lucky in the sense that I was given the opportunity to make the admission and be given an honorable discharge. Had I chosen not to I would have faced an investigation into the allegations. Considering I had opened my big mouth and told someone about that relationship I didn’t want to get my friends and colleagues in any trouble so I made the admission and was granted the honorable discharge.
Did I mention that while all this was going down I was in the hospital having survived a suicide attempt and while dealing with anorexia? Because, of course, getting someone out of the military who had been in a homosexual relationship was so important.
So today I cheer the vote already held and look forward with great anticipation to the vote to come later on. And I remember those men and women who were my friends and co-workers who had to sneak around and hide their true selves while serving their country.
~~to be continued as events unfold~~
Lt. Choi gets his ring back from Sen. Reid. I think his remarks afterward are quite powerful.
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