Thank You for the ‘Thank Yous’

For some reason, the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ issue has become extremely personal for me. No, not just because I served under it, nor just because I was discharged early from the military because of it. Several hundred thousand gays and lesbians have served under DADT and over 13,000 have been discharged under it. Few, however, take the step to get involved in advocacy and political activism on the DADT issue. Most of those, unfortunately, only do so in minor ways – they attend a cocktail party, write their congressman, write a modest check, attend a dinner, or write an op-ed. Fewer still will actually get substantively involved in the issue for a while. I have been involved in this issue for 4 years now and I’ve seen a dozen or so in this category come and go, but the point is that they always do fade away. An extremely small number, however, throw their entire lives into the issue and devote significant amounts of resources, money (as a percentage of income, not absolute numbers), and personal and career time to trying to substantially weaken, and eventually overturn, DADT.

I could be doing many other things with my time, things that are more rewarding, actually profitable, and much more appreciated. But lately, in response to ‘Ask Not’ and a few other related media pieces, there has been a significant uptick in the incoming ‘Thank Yous.’ This issue is personal, so I don’t do it for the ‘Thanks Yous,’ but I just wanted to say thank you for the encouragement. There are times when political activism can be glamorous and fun, but the vast majority of the time it downright sucks. But I don’t see anyone else stepping forward to do it, and so I feel obligated to continue. And as I do, the positive feedback helps, and for it all I am very grateful. So thank YOU too… and you’re welcome.