With the sunrises over US military installations across the world last Tuesday came the advent of a new period of cultural acceptance and transparency for the homosexual community within the American military.

What do we make of the repeal? Is it an action of the Obama administration to fulfil a campaign promise to satisfy the liberal base of his support? Or does this in fact indicate a greater tolerance among the American population that is often missed in the great chaos of liberal versus conservative, as which much of American politics is crudely caricatured?

Our view of American politics always has the tendency to be tinged by viewing such issues through the prism of an American mass media by default. The notion that cable news, editorial pieces and talk radio represent a majority opinion in the United States is an unfortunate consequence of our unfamiliarity with normal American life. It is also a product of our openness to accepting the opinions shown by a lucrative media market that often caters to the vocal minority that such a market exists to feed.

An example of this could be seen in the debate for Republican presidential candidates on Thursday evening. In an event sponsored by respectable corporations, television audiences were treated to a studio audience enthusiastically booing a video question regarding DADT from an openly gay soldier. To witness an American audience disgustingly jeer an active service member is an occurrence few will ever experience.

Patriotism, respect, appreciation and deference to active servicemen and women as well as veterans is a commendable staple of American life one will find in abundance in any of the fifty states, yet the global reach of News Corporation and Google will result in an international audience seeing such impertinence as a typical sample of American public sentiment.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Polling in December 2010, when Congress approved the legislation to repeal the discriminatory policy of discharging openly gay personnel, showed that 67 per cent of Americans approved the action. Like the British public, the majority of the American population can place tolerance of alternative nationality, lifestyle, sexuality and, yes, even race, as one of their best attributes. While American minority, (and often controversial) opinions perhaps have a more effective platform than their European counterparts, we must not be diverted from the fact that the United States, for all its sociological inadequacies and faults that plague many nations, remains a country that prides itself on acceptance and patriotism.

Critics may point to the opinions of legislators such as John McCain who have voiced their disapproval for the repeal. While the Arizona Senator has experience of the Armed Forces few can challenge when it comes to resilience and endeavour, his changes in opinion over the recent electoral cycle on the topic DADT unfortunately make him one whose motives for opining such scepticism can be linked to the perils of securing party nomination. It would seem logical to turn to senior staff in the Pentagon for judgement on the impact of repealing DADT, and as has been seen throughout this process, most of them believe it will be slender at most.

As Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this week, “it’s the right thing to do. It’s done. We need to move on.” I would place good money on the military machinery of the world’s superpower moving on in these coming weeks, months and years with business as usual.

Originally published 27 September 2011.