EDGE Ft. Lauderdale

At the OutServe-SLDN national dinner, leaders and veterans took a moment to celebrate their gains before refocusing on the mission -- to serve and protect LGBT servicemembers.

The repeal of DADT left the military with a patchwork quilt of who gets what rights and benefits. For same-sex spouse Ashley Broadway, this resulted in her denial to join the Association of Fort Bragg Officers’ Spouses.

For those Americans who want to serve their country in the military, having HIV is a dealbreaker, as military policy says soldiers must be able to withstand adverse situations and potential combat scenarios. But what about active service members?

Yale, Harvard and Columbia all signed agreements this year to bring back ROTC. Much of the lingering opposition to the military dissolved with last year’s repeal of "don’t ask, don’t tell."

Three San Diego Marine corporals have been discharged for bad conduct after admitting they faked their marriages to receive housing allowances.

Service members attending the first-ever convention for gay military personnel say they have received nothing but support or shrugs since coming out at work.

It’s been less than a month since the final repeal of "Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell," the law that forced gay and lesbian servicemembers into the closet starting in 1993. But already, the nation’s out, proud patriots are making themselves known as leaders.

The nation’s only professional group for active-duty gay military personnel is holding its first conference in Las Vegas this weekend, an event only made possible by the recent lifting of DADT.

According to GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, racial identity and sexual orientation are two different things because, the pol suggested, racial minorities are born into their identity, whereas gays are gay only because of their sexual partners.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that he should not have stayed silent after the audience at a GOP debate booed a gay soldier serving in Iraq.