Senate to vote on DADT tomorrow

Yesterday, Senate majority leader Harry Reid filed cloture on the new stand-alone bill to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The Senate will most likely vote on it tomorrow. Obviously, we’re all hopeful that this discriminatory policy will finally be repealed and that LGBT servicemen and women will finally be treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve. I hope that any senators still hanging out on the wrong side of history take a moment to read this letter, posted at Jezebel, from a gay soldier who’s about to deploy to Afghanistan:

The silence is the hardest part. I listen intently as my fellow soldiers talk about facing the reality of leaving their loved ones for a year and all the life events that will be missed. I don’t talk about my own experience at all, because it’s easier to come across as cold and removed than to risk slipping and mentioning that my loved one is of the same gender. For all I know, there are other gay soldiers in my unit, ones who understand what I’m going through. My gay friends in civilian life are supportive, but they don’t often understand the military or soldiering. That camouflage is another burden I carry as I prepare to leave.

Go read the whole thing here, and let’s all hope that the US Senate gets it together and does the right thing tomorrow.