Allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the United States military will not threaten our security or destabilize our armed forces, but don't take my word for it. Instead, consider the findings and conclusions of the recently-completed Pentagon study of the possible effects of repealing "don't ask, don't tell."
My personal favorite--the acknowledgement that many of the concerns about open service were driven by "misperceptions and stereotypes" and that these were often at odds with the actual experiences of personnel who had served with individuals that they knew to be gay.
If the military can acknowledge that negative attitudes towards gay men and lesbians were based on misperceptions and stereotypes, shouldn't anyone be able to?
A number of key political leaders said that they were not willing to support repeal of DADT until this report documented that repeal would not be a problem, but this report goes much further--it says that allowing open service will actually be a benefit, and that many service members acknowledged as much in response to the study's polling.
But, of course, if you are reading this blog, you probably knew that already.
The next step--the KEY step--is full repeal of DADT, and the time for that action is now. Hopefully, 2010 will end with a wonderful celebration (and and acknowledgment of gratitude) for all the gay men and lesbians who are risking their lives to defend their country.