Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate women worldwide and to remind ourselves of the work yet to be done to fight gender inequality. But it is sad that we need a special day for this. With two young nieces growing up, my hope is that by the time they become adults, they will know no hint of inequality or discrimination.
Here is a list of 38 countries. Think about what they have in common:
| Albania | Czech Republic | Ireland | The Netherlands | Russia | Taiwan |
| Argentina | Denmark | Israel | New Zealand | Serbia | United Kingdom |
| Australia | Estonia | Italy | Norway | Slovania | Uruguay |
| Austria | Finland | Japan | Peru | South Africa | |
| Belgium | France | Lithuania | Philippines | Spain | |
| Canada | Germany | Luxembourg | Poland | Sweden | |
| Columbia | Greece | Malta | Romania | Switzerland |
Very soon, the United States will finally join this list of nations – most of the world’s most powerful and effective militaries – that allow gay, lesbian, and bisexual members of their armed forces to serve openly.
On Saturday, the United States Senate voted 65-31 to repeal the ban, known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which has resulted in more than 14,000 highly-skilled and dedicated members of our military being discharged for nothing more than being honest about who they are.
We will look back on this, much as we do the 1948 desgregation of the United States armed forces, with no doubt that it was the right thing. In fact, many will come to wonder why it didn’t happen sooner. Some of us already do.
christao408 