Oddly enough, I hadn't given the matter much thought until after I left the service. I knew some folks back when I was in that were gay. Personally, I could have cared less. The majority of them were just normal folks to me. I never considered them anything else.
Long after I was out, I got to talking to a friend I hadn't seen in over a decade. She mentioned she had a girlfriend and the whole Prop 8 thing. It kinda dawned on me. It's not right for gays to pay their taxes and be treated as less than human. Granted, they're now allowed most rights. Voting, working, etc. Sodomy laws have been only been invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2003. Prior to that, technically homosexuality was illegal in multiple states. Whether it was enforced or not varied, of course, but still...
I've personally never expected to be treated as a person by anyone. When it happens, it is pleasant and surprising. I've always been of the opinion while theoretically one is entitled to being treated as a person, reality is not so accommodating. The best solution is not give the option for folks to treat you as less than a person. Either by maintaining a high state of readiness or being highly skilled enough that folks value one's service more than their inclinations to destroy that which is different. That combination has saved my life on more than one occasion, including during my time in the military.
While I am pragmatic enough to believe now is not the best time to force the issue, I cannot morally accept treating law-abiding and tax paying US citizens as less than human.
