Although gays had always served in the military— Milk had been an officer in the navy during the Korean War—they were technically banned. In 1992 President Bill Clinton had promised to end the ban on gays and lesbians in the armed services, but when the Joint Chiefs of the armed forces and a number of important members of Congress objected, he settled for a policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” meaning that such persons would be allowed to enlist only if they did not openly proclaim their sexual preferences. In 2010 Congress voted to openly admit gays and lesbians to the armed forces.
In 2004, San Francisco granted the first same-sex marriage license to Phyllis Lyon, 79, and Del Martin, 83, longtime activists. Because California did not allow same-sex marriages, San Francisco officials explained that theirs was an act of "civil disobedience.”
Another long-term objective was same-sex marriage. Some gay and lesbian leaders disagreed; Milk, for example, maintained that gay liberation entailed breaking free from heterosexual conventions, including marriage. But other activists regarded
Acceptance of same-sex marriage as essential for wider acceptance. They noted that gay and lesbian couples formed bonds that were as close and loving as those of heterosexual couples. Why, gay and lesbian couples asked, should they not be allowed to adopt children or receive the legal protections and benefits of marriage? Conservative groups argued that religious texts and moral traditions had defined marriage as heterosexual. “Any sex outside of the marriage bond between a man and a woman is violating God’s law,” Jerry Falwell declared. In 2006 conservatives, backed by President George W. Bush, proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would define marriage as “a union between a man and a woman.” The measure fell just short of passage in the Senate.
2004 Massachusetts was the first state to recognize same-sex marriage; within the next five years, a half dozen states passed similar laws. When Washington, DC approved a same-sex marriage law, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, DC protested the decision by revising health care benefits of its agencies to avoid covering same-sex couples. But by 2010, according to most opinion polls, a solid majority of Americans favored same-sex marriage. And by a hefty margin, Millennials were far more likely to endorse same-sex marriage than any other age group, including Boomers.
World History
