Lynn C. Woolsey: “69 years ago today, the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked. In the epic 4-year war that followed, millions of…”

“69 years ago today, the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked. In the epic 4-year war that followed, millions of Americans served with honor and courage, and more than 400,000 lost their lives. I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that many of them were gay. Nearly seven decades later, it appears we are finally prepared to acknowledge publicly what we have known for so long: That gay and lesbian Americans have been part of the military, making invaluable contributions to our Nation's security, for as long as there has been a Nation to secure. We appear to be finally on the cusp of repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy that has asked those who wear the uniform to lie about their very identities as a precondition of their service. As if we don't ask enough of them already. Those who have continued to back this dreadful policy said earlier this year that they wanted to see the results of the Pentagon review before reconsidering their position. Well, that sober and empirical review was released last week, and it quite clearly concluded that repealing the policy would have minimal impact on military readiness or cohesion.”