Yeah we're all pretty disappointed by the waffling by the Obama administration on DADT, especially with regards to Lt. Daniel Choi, and rightfully so. However if you want a little more salt on the open wound--granted it is a net plus for LGBT equality worldwide--read what just happened in Uruguay.
From the Guardian (UK):
Uruguay has lifted a ban on gay people in the armed forces while Peru has threatened to fire gay police officers who cause "scandals", exposing a wide gulf in South American attitudes towards homosexuality.
The Uruguayan president, Tabare Vazquez, scrapped a law from the 1973-85 dictatorship that barred gay people from military academies, cementing his country's reputation as one of the most progressive in the region.
"The Uruguayan government does not discriminate against citizens based on their political, ethnic or sexual identity," Vazquez said...The ban had categorised homosexuality among the "mental illnesses and disorders" that rendered military recruits unsuitable to serve
Read the full article for more details and context, such as some protests from retired military guys there, and an overview of similar LGBT issues in Latin America in general. It's interesting and worth looking into even if it isn't as in-depth as what you may find elsewhere.
So there you go, the supposed "third world" (as most Americans would see it) has gotten their act together on gays in the military well before we have. Granted Uruguay is on a whole better on LGBT rights than our country (apparently they have civil unions amongst others in recent years), but South America as a whole still tends to be somewhat more "traditional" as a predominantly Catholic region so it's still somewhat of a big deal I suppose.
Either way, it's very telling when we--the alleged beacon on a hill (frankly I never felt that way about the country but still would be nice if we could actually lead on moral matters...)--have to look to countries we never would look at otherwise to what we should do. Sad indeed, and Obama better get his act together on DADT (if it has to go through Congress first, fair enough but that just means he goes out there, supports it and give a few armlocks if necessary) or we're soon going to look very backwards indeed, aside from our not doing the right thing and his potential to go back on his word.
Sorry the diary isn't all that long, but didn't know what else to say really. Also, this topic was diaried about yesterday (although the diarist's linked article says a lot less about the issue than mine) but did not get any traction. However, I think it's worth another reminder and hell I'd like to be reminded daily about how far behind we really are on many issues.