[DrPhil]

It is good that this was repealed.

As for the posts about "gaying it up" and whether homosexuals and bisexuals even want to talk about sexual orientation:

Homosexuals want to feel comfortable expressing themselves just as heterosexuals do. Heterocentrism makes heterosexuality the normative and dominant group. This makes heterosexuals comfortable with their sexual orientation to the point where it is second nature. Something simple as saying "I can't wait to go home, I miss spending time with my husband" or "before I was deployed, I met this really wonderful woman" is about sexual orientation. [And, yes, people in the military also engage in small talk (among other things) and, no, most people in the military are not actively fighting in the wars or currently hiding from enemy fire.] It is institutionalized that heterosexuals can feel comfortable inserting (no pun intended) and asserting sexual orientation in even the most random places; and assuming that they are around fellow heterosexuals, often times finding out that they are not around heterosexuals causes the initial pause and awkwardness.

So, this topic isn't about homosexuals "gaying it up" and wanting to constantly say "I'm gay, by the way, I'm gay" but instead about having the ability to be comfortable doing what heterosexuals have always done with their sexual orientation. If DADT is repealed but homosexuals still have to refrain from being comfortable with their sexual orientation, it's the same outcome as keeping DADT. It's just like de jure and de facto segregation, the laws don't change behaviors and outcomes.