<i>Analysis:</i> LGBT History Month

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – This month is a month celebrating the history and the fight for freedoms for gays and lesbians across the country.

I first met Mark Segal when he interrupted, as an activist; my live broadcast of the news at Channel 6 in the summer of 1972. Mark has come a long way. Segal, editor of the Philadelphia Gay News, was a pioneer in the public fight for equality for gays. Although he sees challenges ahead, he is amazed how far the struggle that began in the sixties has come.

"Never before did I feel 40 years ago....I had no concept that close to 80 percent of Americans would think gays should be in the military. That over half of Americans now believe that gay couples should have the right to marry. Never did I think it would go this far," says Segal.

For Patrick Murphy, the former Congressman and war veteran, the end of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' was an historic moment; not just for the military but the country.

"When I was in Baghdad with the 82nd Airborne Division my fellow paratroopers could care less who the guys were writing home to. They could care whether you can handle your M-4 Assault Rifle, could you kick down a door, could you jump out of an airplane, and can you do your job so we all came home alive. 14,000 Americans were thrown not for any misconduct but just because they were gay. It was wrong."

Listen to full interview:

Reported By Special Contributor Larry Kane, KYW Newsradio