DADT repeal

While I'm happy that Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed yesterday and that Obama will sign it, I'm not cheering ecstatically yet. Obama could have stopped all the discharges any time he wanted to. And now we've got Gates saying it might take up to a year to "implement", as if there's a trick to it.

Gay and lesbian armed service members are already there. Nothing has to change at all except that you don't fire them for being who they are. A year for implementation? It sounds like the insanity is still with the overlords.

And today, MetroWeekly provides the following report:

Saying that they had been "focused" on the vote, a senior White House aide intimately familiar with the administration's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal efforts was unwilling to say whether President Obama agrees with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) that DADT-releated investigations and discharges should be halted immediately.

So no, I'm not going to cheer wildly yet. Maybe later. And the fact that this doesn't fix all the other inequalities GLBT folk face in America means even if this repeal goes well, there is a ton more work to do.

I've been a half-citizen all my life because I'm gay. I'm still not a full person in this country. When I'm equal, you'll hear me shouting hallelujah from the rafters. Until then, color me suspicious.

UPDATE 1: I just saw this quote from Gates:

"It is therefore important that our men and women in uniform understand that while today's historic vote means that this policy will change, the implementation and certification process will take an additional period of time. In the meantime, the current law and policy will remain in effect. (Emphasis added.)

Nice, huh? Gives me a lot of confidence.

UPDATE 2: The AP headline this morning is "Gays see repeal as a civil rights milestone", not "DADT repeal a civil rights milestone." We've got a long road ahead of us before we reach equality.