@truecomedian:
(1) Although there’s no need to tell anyone about it as a matter of fact, it shouldn’t be something that causes shame and you should feel the need to hide.
(2) Yes, gays in the military want this repealed. But, the main reason is not so they can suddenly serve openly. The reason is so that if it is discovered that they are gay, or they do need to let it be known for some reason, they don’t get discharged, lose their benefits, etc.
@Seaofclouds
Sure. But the general trends indicated to the Pentagon that no special measures needed to be taken. It’s the military, and there’s a lot of high emotions at time – and the Pentagon determined that the support and education structures in place already could be utilized to deal with any arising situation.
The main thing, and what I think people forget, is that repealing the ban is simply that the soldiers will no longer be discharged if they are outted, or come out. The soldiers still need to make the decision to come out. I think that will happen a lot more slowly than any government action trying to stall change would slow it down.