The military is not a monolith. SLDN is aware of fair-minded officers and noncommissioned officers in the field today who support military service by known gay, lesbian and bisexual military members. These leaders recognize that the military cannot afford to waste human resources and value the contributions made by all service members. Hopefully, some of these leaders will make the military a career, and will find the strength to resist the powerful pressures that are brought to bear on leaders by the old school as they advance. Change will come to the military, albeit slowly.
Leadership is necessary.
We need leaders who pay more than lip service to taking care of our soldiers - all of our soldiers. Of late, leadership has been sorely lacking. But I couldn't come to work everyday at SLDN, where in six years we have assisted more than 2,000 military members facing death threats, harassment and witch hunts, if I didn't have hope that the future will bring such courageous leaders to the fore. Although we made some mistakes, I believe the military has largely become a race-blind organization. Sexual preference is another matter, however.