End of Military Gay Ban Is Pivotal Moment in History

End of Military Gay Ban Is Pivotal Moment in History
Dec 18, 2010

Andrea Stone
Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Dec. 18) -- The Senate's 65-31 vote to end the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military was more than historic. It was a long time coming. But for the men and women whose lives and careers were touched for so many years by the ban, it was mostly personal.

For Grethe Cammermeyer, the Vietnam combat nurse who came out as a lesbian in 1989 and whose struggle to stay in the military made her famous, the Senate vote brought tears. It's "the relief of finally seeing that we can serve with dignity and with integrity and that people no longer have to lie," she said.

For Wally Kutteles, whose stepson, Army Pfc. Barry Winchell, was bludgeoned to death in 1999 by a fellow soldier after months of harassment and whose death shined a light on gay-bashing in the ranks, the repeal meant the 21-year-old did not die in vain. "It's about time," he said.
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End of Military Gay Ban Is Pivotal Moment in History