Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Valerie
Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, and acting
Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning were among those who
addressed several hundred service members attending a Pentagon event
to mark Gay Pride.
It is the second year the Pentagon has
held such an event after the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,”
which prohibited gay troops from serving openly.
“Our nation has always benefited from
the service of gay and lesbian soldiers, sailors, airmen and
Marines,” Hagel
said. “Now they can serve openly, with full honor, integrity
and respect. This makes our military and our nation stronger, much
stronger. … With their service, we are moving closer to fulfilling
the country's founding vision, that all of us are created equal.”
Jarrett recounted stories she heard in
2010 from active duty gay troops and veterans who had been discharged
before the policy had been lifted.
“I'll never forget the veteran who
said he couldn't even be honest about who he was with his own family,
because he didn't want to ask them to lie for him,” she
said.
She described repeal as “one of the
most significant civil rights accomplishments of the president's
career.”
Fanning, who is openly gay, described
life in the Air Force under “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”
“It was a deeply conflicting time for
me,” he
said. “I was launching a career with strong support from
amazing bosses who knew about my personal life. … I was being given
opportunities that were being denied to people just like me. I was
working for an institution that discriminated – against people just
like me.”
“We are stronger for looking like the
society we are charged with protecting, and we are today … the
finest military the world has ever known.”