Joe Biden Salutes Openly Gay West Point Class President At Graduation Ceremony

"I expect we’re going to hear big things from you, pal.”

From: NewNowNext

 Vice President Joe Biden addressed the graduating class at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point on Saturday, telling them that greater diversity in strengthening the Armed Forces.

“Having men and women together in the battlefield is an incredible asset, particularly when they’re asked to lead teams in parts of the world with fundamentally different expectations and norms,” Biden told more than 950 cadets at Michie Stadium.

Biden saluted class president Eugene “E.J.” Coleman for publicly coming out as gay.

Before the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” in 2010, he said, “E.J. would have been discharged from the Army, and we would have lost an incredible talent.”

Thanking Coleman for his courage, he added, “I expect we’re going to hear big things from you, pal.”

Congratulations to #USMA2016! Welcome to the #LongGrayLine! You are #USMA's newest Old Grads and the #USArmy's newest second lieutenants. #WithHonorWeLead

A video posted by U.S. Military Academy (@westpoint_usma) on May 21, 2016 at 9:26am PDT

It’s almost impossible to believe how far we’ve come in six short years—from brave servicemembers being forced to hide who they are to Eric Fanning being made the first openly gay Secretary of the Army this week.

Of course there is still work to be done, as activists wait for the the Armed Forces to follow through on its promise to lift the ban on trans men and women in them military.