With the current level of craziness reaching new heights on Capitol Hill, I thought I would take a look back and see where some of this got started. Actually, it's been milling around since 1950 - but the current shit storm has a lot to do with the compromise offered by President Clinton on January 29, 1993 and later to be referred to as "don't ask, don't tell, don't harass" (the harass part seems to have been forgotten about).
Pres. Clinton: “The issue is not whether there should be homosexuals in the military. Everyone concedes that there are. The issue is whether men and women who can and have served with real distinction, should be excluded from military service solely on the basis of their status. And I believe they should not.”
A lot happened between January and December of 1993 as far as the ban was concerned. And seventeen years later, it's still happening.
Meanwhile, the parade of flag-draped coffins always beg the question "pick the gay ones".