Her eyes fixed on the flag as the bugle's sound filled the Capitol rotunda.

Fourteen years after her honorable discharge from the United States Air Force, Valerie Larabee's decade of military service remains her "proudest accomplishment." The flag that flew over Falcon Air Force Base the day she left is one of her most treasured possessions.

But Larabee, director of the Utah Pride Center, said too many other gays and lesbians in the military are being robbed of their honor and snubbed, despite their service, by the nation's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

"They deserve to serve their country openly and with dignity," Larabee said during a small Veterans Day service.

Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake City, called Don't Ask, Don't Tell a "dishonorable and debilitating law" and announced she would carry a resolution urging President Barack Obama and Congress to do away with the policy and reinstate the more than 13,000 soldiers who have been discharged because of it.

"It's unjust for us to ask so much of our servicemen and -women and then ask them to hide," said Johnson, who will carry the bill as a "promise" to a close military friend who took her own life less than a month ago. "She was proud of her service and embarrassed that she had to hide her sexual orientation."

Last month, Obama reiterated a promise to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell but did not offer a timeline for action.

Jeff Key, a gay Iraq war veteran, said the love and support he has received from his fellow Marines proves the U.S. armed forces are ready for change.

"We have been attacked so often, so viciously and for so long," Key said. "(But) those who place themselves on the side of discrimination and bigotry have placed themselves on the wrong side of history. … We are going to keep fighting. We are going to win."

e-mail: afalk@desnews.com