The prevailing narrative of #DADT repeal seems to be that it was no big deal, a nothing burger, all hat and no cattle. Evidence of the professionalism of the force and a broad commitment to inclusion. The evidence: None of the dire predictions came true...and yet.
This narrative, while tempting and self-congratulatory, oversimplifies the momentousness and significance of the repeal and, in many cases, erases the continued discrimination, intolerance, and harm suffered by LGBTQ service members even after the formal appeal.
It paves the way for “it’s no big deal. They’re just doing their job. Why do you have to flaunt it” responses when important “firsts” are achieved and barriers broken.
It shifts blame onto LGBTQ people who point out any continued difficulties or challenges they face as members of a minoritized group by suggesting the institution “moved and that ongoing issues are imagined, overblown, anomalous, or evidence of a bad “fit.”
It is absolutely true that the formal repeal of DADT seemed anticlimactic in many ways — but the absence of...violence?...is not the same as a long-standing change in culture or full acceptance within an organization.
This story is not unique to the integration of LGBTQ people into the military. We see similar patterns with racial and gender integrations—although the “no big deal” story is not as strong in those instances (and these differences matter.)
Stay tuned, @bermonkey1096 and I are working on a thing about all of this.
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