Ending a 17-year ban that forced gay and lesbian service members into the closet, President Obama whisked the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy into the trash bin by signing its repeal into law.

"This is a historic day in furthering the cause of equal rights for all," said Morgan Graham of Westport, who ran against Sen. John McKinney for the state senate in 2004 as an openly gay candidate. She lives in Fairfield and her partner is a Westport native.

With more than 13,500 members of the armed serviced booted out since 1993, including 59 Arabic linguists and nine Farsi translators, candidate Obama had pledged to overturn the discriminative policy. Despite many setbacks since taking office, Obama continually assured supporters that the law would be changed. But for supporters of LGBT rights it was a long time coming.

"I was very hopeful when Obama was elected that the ban would be overturned but have to admit that I wasn't sure he could fulfill his promise given the way Republicans in the House and Senate were blocking his every attempt to move the country forward," said Graham. "Needless to say, I'm happy that I was wrong."

A Pentagon study conducted earlier this year recommended that the Department of Defense issue guidance to all the service branches permitting those previously discharged under DADT to "be considered for re-entry, assuming they qualify in all other respects."

In its final passage on Saturday, the Senate voted 65-13 to lift the ban with six GOP members crossing party lines. In our state, both Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) voted in favor of repeal.

"This victory for justice and equality has many authors, but I would particularly like to applaud the leadership of President Obama, Senator Reid, Chairman Levin and Senator Collins, as well as our House counterparts, Speaker Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Patrick Murphy," Sen. Lieberman said in a statement. "We are deeply indebted to the heroes of our armed services who sacrifice every day so we can enjoy liberty. And American liberty became more complete today when President Obama signed this legislation into law."

The measure had been languishing in the Senate after last spring's House vote for repeal passed 234 to 194. All Conn. House members voted in favor of repeal.

During debate for cloture, Senate Republicans argued the party platform against the measure including that repeal of DADT would limit enlistment, cause service members to leave the military, harm unit cohesion and serve as a distraction during war. However in a survey sent to service members, 70 percent said they would "work together to get the job done" if there was a gay service member in their unit and 69 percent said they already knew or suspected a service member of being gay.

According to a recent poll, 80 percent of Americans support repeal of the law, while back in 1993 when the bill was enacted only 44 percent of U.S. citizens supported allowing openly gay people to serve in the military.

Obama signed the bill at the Interior Department, in order to accommodate a larger than usual audience.

Flanked by supporters including the first American soldier wounded during the War in Iraq, the son of a World War II veteran whose life was saved by a gay comrade during the Battle of the Bulge and former naval officer Zoe Dunning now serving with Service members Legal Defense Fund, a beaming POTUS said that he was "overwhelmed" by the occasion.

"No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder in order to serve the country that they love," Obama said.

Yet the repeal will not immediately go into effect. Gay troops may still be in danger of discharge until Pentagon officials complete mandatory implementation plans and the president, defense secretary and chairman of the joint chiefs certify to lawmakers that the law won't damage combat readiness.

But Obama remains hopeful.

"They have all said that we are going to implement this smartly and swiftly, and they are confident that it will not have an effect on our military effectiveness—so I'm very heartened by that," he said. "We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot ... a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal."