Making Good History

There was premature talk of a post-racial nirvana after the election of President Barack Obama. But the election was nonetheless a singularly significant event in a continuum of significant events that began with "All men are created equal" on to the Emancipation Proclamation, through the civil rights struggles of the 1960s to present day.

As Obama signs a bill repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" rule, it will be an event as significant for gay rights as President Harry Truman's order integrating the U.S. military was for black Americans. Obama's signature will mark historic progress for a nation that has for too long denigrated gay Americans. Our hope is that it is the death knell for one of the last frontiers of bigotry.

The U.S. Senate on Saturday did its part, striking down the ban that forced gay men and lesbians to deny who they are, even as they risked their lives for the rest of us. The House acted earlier. Now the measure has been signed by the president.

It is with no small measure of pride in this nation that we note this progress, though at state levels resistance continues.

And in this also there are similarities to how the battle for civil rights for African-Americans and others unfolded. This momentum can be stalled but not halted.

"Don't ask, don't tell" never made sense. It was intended by President Bill Clinton to soften the military's outright ban. Instead, it acknowledged the obvious — that gays and lesbians were already serving, ably and courageously. And they have likely been doing so since the United States has had a military.

Ensconcing them in barrack and shipboard closets simply made the statement that being who they were was a flaw but that harboring prejudice against them was not. We should be past that as a nation. But then the military often has been a leader in such progress.

We make a prediction here that we don't believe to be bold: There will be no longstanding deterioration of military morale or readiness after repeal. A survey of the military earlier revealed that.

But the military must ensure this by having as little tolerance for the prejudices of homophobes as it now has for the bigotry of racists. It is, simply, the American thing to do.

REPRINTED FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL.

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