In the middle of the afternoon on July 22, 2011, the certifications that signal the end of DADt were completed as the Secretary of the Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the President all certified that the armed forces were truly ready to end DADT.

The White House announced late Friday afternoon that the repeal of DADT was formally certified by President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen.

“Today, we have taken the final major step toward ending the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law that undermines our military readiness and violates American principles of fairness and equality,” Obama said in a statement.

While I’m not a real pro-war kind of guy, I see this as one of the biggest developments towards the full equality of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans persons that could possibly happen, and we are now counting down 60 days, till DADT will be history. More importantly than what this means for the LGBT Rights movement, this will allow enlisted men and women to quit lying and hiding who they are, removing huge burdens, obstacles and inconveniences that stand in the way of simply doing their job.  While some activists are busy whining because the president won’t say he is for marriage equality- a stance that will impact not one single person in practical terms- the president is pursuing a plan of making real changes that affect the real lives of real men and women. And that is much cause to celebrate! Beginning September 20, 2011, the military will have a zero tolerance policy in terms of harassment or discrimination based on sexual orientation. With a “workforce” of two million soldiers who have been trained about DADT, this becomes the largest initiative by any employer ever.

One of the things the military discovered as they moved through their process, is that most all gays and lesbians serving today, simply want to defend their country, and they are willing to suffer enormous inconveniences to do that. This policy change allows them to do their job with honesty and integrity. However, the policy change has larger ramifications too. With over 2 million soldiers trained to understand why sexual orientation is not a reason for discrimination, a huge step forward is made towards all of our society acting that way. As the military did their survey and listened to the objections about lifting DADT, they came to realize that all of the reluctance for lifting the ban was based on misconceptions and gay stereotypes that don’t reflect reality. This probably isn’t news to any LGBT person. Everything that is used by anyone who is anti-gay friendly or accepting is based on false ideas, misconceptions and stereotypes that are not real. While the survey process and timeline seemed to take forever, and was then followed by an undetermined period for training, this allowed everyone in the military to replace the false ideas with real  information. This will lead to a very easy transition to a military that accepts openly gay and lesbian soldiers.

Now all service members will be treated equally. Isn’t that what LGBT equality is all about?

For those serving who wish to come out, it is advised to keep silent for now, and await the September 20th date.

via http://www.talkradionews.com/news/2011/7/22/obama-pentagon-certify-dadt-repeal.html