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Celebration is Over (are we through)

By Ellen Kozel

A lot of folks feel that September 20th, marked the end of all the problems of gays in the military. We have to realize that the repeal of “Don’ Ask Don’t Tell” was just a start. There are still many issues to be resolved and with veterans discharged prior to the repeal, the effects of DADT on those who served under DADT and that the repeal didn’t cover all lifestyles and benefits received by their counterparts.

While the repeal was a step in the right direction there is still a lot of work to do. Let’s go back in time where during WWII, Korean and Vietnam era where gays in the military were given dishonorable discharges or better yet discharged under illegal contract. The repeal does nothing for these veterans who served their country.

The repeal does not cover transgender service men and women. They still can be discharged if found out. So they still live under the stigma of the old military.

We still have many veterans who lived under DADT that are afraid to use their benefits because of the stigma left behind by having to hide who they were.

So our work still continues. We’ve taken one big step forward, but there is still a lot of work to do to fix injustices that have occurred throughout the years. This is definitely a time to continue to support the work of the LGBT organizations working on the legal issues and the emotion and health issues.

The Vietnam memorial would not have been built without the money from Vietnam veterans. The LGBT organizations that work for LGBT veterans will not continue to be able to work for our veterans without support from our own veterans.

It’s important that you continue to support these organizations because your support will help in continuing to bring progress and emotional and physical healing within our LGBT community.