In the UK there was a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on gays serving in the military which said this in 1999:
The ban on gays in the UK armed forces is a breach of human rights, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. The Strasbourg judges said the ban broke the Human Rights Convention, which safeguards the right to privacy. Gay rights campaigners say it is a landmark case, and they hope the government will lift the ban by the end of the year.
What happened?
Did high-ranking officers stage a massive walkout?
Did the UK military all turn gay from contact?
Did the Royal Family refuse to send Prince Harry to the military?
Er, no.
When the UK took the step of allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the armed forces 10 years ago, public opinion was in favour but the armed forces themselves were not. The situation is very similar in the US today.
Landmarks
Some 10% said they would leave the armed forces if gays were allowed to serve openly. Large-scale resignations from the UK armed forces were widely expected in some quarters, when the ban on gays was lifted - but in practice they did not materialise.
At least one British army brigadier publicly resigned in protest, citing "strongly held moral and military convictions" but most observers were surprised at how smoothly the new law - which was forced on the UK government by the European Court of Human Rights - was implemented.
"There was this expectation that there would be problems, but it just didn't happen. People just got on with their work," said Dave Small, who was in the Royal Navy at the time, but now works for the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme helping the three armed services to adopt best practice in the area of sexual diversity.
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Fears that allowing openly gay soldiers to serve on the front line would lead to a breakdown of discipline and cohesion within units also proved unfounded.
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British Security Minister Lord Alan West, a former head of the Royal Navy, told the Associated Press in July 2009 that allowing gays to serve openly was "much better".
"For countries that don't do that - I don't believe it's got anything to do with how efficient or capable their forces will be. It's to do with prejudices, I'm afraid," he said.
It's always about hate when it comes to teh Gays. Maybe all the gay-bashers in America going to the media should read this and grow up. But that's asking a lot from the religious community in our country.
