"We've grown stronger as a military, and as a nation," says Fanning, "as we've worked to be more inclusive, and open up opportuntities to those who previously didn't have them."
In addition to honoring nine LGBT artists for their contributions, the White House hosted two panel discussions and screened transgender-themed entertainment.
It was the albatross that haunted DADT's repeal: that allowing gay and lesbians to serve openly would be a 'social experiment.' Now Mike Huckabee is using that same false premise against transgender service members.
The promised study of allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military seemed stalled for a while, but one gay man asked a simple question to help move things along.