Yesterday amidst talks of a two-state solution for Israel and a two-company solution for Netflix, a momentous happening occurred in the United States Armed Forces. The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” law, repealed by Congress late last year during a lame duck session, became officially defunct as the military started its new policy of not discharging openly homosexual soldiers. If ever there were a moment worthy of reflection, this would be it.

I used to hear the term “DADT” a lot in high school, but usually as an abbreviation for “derivative of area with respect to time.” Calculus class has a tendency to overtake many students’ minds. It wasn’t until recently when I began to fully comprehend the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” legislation.

Originally passed nearly 20 years ago during the Clinton administration, the law was first conceived as a way to help homosexual soldiers in the army. With the passage of the law, the military ostensibly could no longer conduct witch-hunts singling out soldiers and removing them for bigoted purposes. The only catch was that soldiers were also not allowed to make public their sexual orientation if they happened to be gay.

I never fully understood what goal keeping homosexuals out of the military accomplished. The armies of Israel, Australia and every original NATO signatory do not enforce such laws, yet for some reason Americans saw it fit to discriminate against and stigmatize patriotic and talented citizens desiring to serve their country on the sole basis of their sexual orientation.

When I was in high school, I had a history teacher who was a Vietnam veteran. He didn’t like to share a lot of war stories with us, but he did tell us one thing about the military: “The army is probably the most egalitarian institution this country has. No matter where you came from, or what color your skin was, or how much money your daddy made, in the eyes of your drill sergeant you were the same as every other private there.” Granted, in the eyes of the drill sergeant I assume every recruit probably looked like scum, but I believe the point still stands.

Meritocracy is a central component of the American dream. We’re all taught to believe that everyone has an equal chance; all it takes is a bit of rugged individualism and practice to make it to the top. Whether or not one actually subscribes to the myth is more of a personal matter, but “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was a law that contravened this very assumption.

Many of those who defended the law brought up the point that this law does not ban gay soldiers from serving; rather, it only bans them from making their sexual orientation known if they do happen to be gay. Perhaps if the law made it just as illegal for heterosexuals to reveal their sexual orientation I might be more inclined to buy this argument. But the simple truth is that this law encouraged members of our armed forces to hide their identity. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” created an ethos of inferiority when it comes to homosexuals.

Our lawmakers feared gay soldiers coming out of the closet and suddenly making inappropriate romantic advances upon their fellow servicemen and women. Beneath this bigoted piece of legislation was a fallacious assumption that homosexuals are some kind of “other:” hypersexual, alien in nature, trying to undermine our most basic and “American” institutions. What “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” promoted was an idea that one could not be a genuine and valued member of the military if one was a homosexual, and I find this concept downright despicable.

Homosexuality is not a choice, and no amount of Michele Bachmann’s inane ramblings and complaints can change that. If a United States citizen wants to serve his or her country by going abroad, risking their life and limbs for the protection of innocent lives and subjecting him or herself to some of the harshest conditions imaginable for months at a time, I don’t care about the sex to which that person is attracted. Such a person ought to be commended for their bravery and valor rather than demonized for an innate characteristic that has no bearing on how well they’ll be able to perform their job.

The repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is a momentous occasion for this nation as a whole. If Harvey Milk, the San Francisco politician who fought against city ordinances allowing schools to dismiss homosexual teachers, was still around today, I think he too would share in this celebration. But that’s not to say that the struggle for gay rights has finished.

Though this dishonorable discrimination in the military has ended, our country still places a de jure branding on homosexuals, re-enforcing the idea that their rights don’t matter as much as the rights of heterosexuals. We’ve come a long way since the days of Harvey Milk, but it’s not the right time to get complacent. For now at least, I bid a not-so-fond adieu to “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell;” please, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Brandon Bub is a sophomore majoring in English and edits The Daily Campus opinion column. He can be reached for comment at [email protected]