Coming out Down Under

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - 2:56 PM Share

I didn't realize that the Australian military has permitted its soldiers and sailors to be openly gay since 1992. This surprised me because I tend to think of Australia as America's America. That is, we kind of look at them the way the rest of the world looks at us, as big and loud-mouthed but essentially good-natured and well-meaning. So I was surprised to see how ahead of us they are on gays in the military. Now the Australian military is looking at equal financial benefits for same-sex partners.

I suspect that the Obama administration won't lift "don't ask, don't tell" until 2010, but that when it does, the change toward permitting openly gay service members will go surprisingly smoothly.