What a difference four years makes.

In 2010, the year before the Defense Department officially ditched its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on gays serving openly in the military, at least 260 service members were discharged from service.

Over the course of the 17-year policy, more than 13,500 gay and lesbian service members were kicked out because of sexual orientation, a policy that cost the U.S. government many tens of millions for the recruitment and training of replacements.

On Wednesday, however, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam hosted a “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month” event at Hickam Memorial Theater as part of a national Pentagon push for LGBT respect.

With only 50 to 60 people in attendance, it was small. But it was big on significance in terms of change.

“We’re leading by example, and we’re here to ensure that lesbian, gay (and) bisexual citizens are judged by the quality of their work and not by those who they love,” Rear Adm. Rick Williams, commander of Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, told those assembled.

Williams said there has been struggle and setbacks within the military over those issues, but that the United States is on a trajectory toward “a more just society, which is the right way to go.”

For service members who are gay, the 2011 repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell lifted a millstone from their shoulders.

“It was just difficult trying to hide things about yourself and trying to relate to people. It was definitely very significant when it changed,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Alicia Muro, 28, a C-17 cargo aircraft loadmaster who was at the presentation with her wife.

The fear of being investigated was a concern.

“So now I love my job and I couldn’t imagine not doing it. It was just harder to do it under (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell),” said Muro, who joined the Air Force in 2006.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Randall McCready, 25, who also is based at Hickam, said progress is being made. He, too, enlisted when Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was in effect.

“And now we have officially command-sanctioned events to try and promote acceptance and at least tolerance, so I think it’s good progress,” said McCready, who also is one of the co-leaders of the Hawaii chapter of the OutServe-Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which supports and assists LGBT service members and veterans.

“Obviously, you still have individuals with varying opinions and some people are still very opposed to homosexuals in general — especially transgender people,” McCready said. “But I think it’s gotten a lot better. Obviously, the more people know that they know gay people and realize that they are pretty much the same as everybody else, the more accepting they are.”

Beyond that, “as long as you can do your job and do it well, then people tend to stop caring about everything else,” he said.

President Barack Obama on May 29 declared June Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. Some of the service members participating in Wednesday’s Hickam event took turns reading portions of the proclamation on stage.

The Pentagon went a step further Tuesday by updating its equal opportunity program to protect service members against discrimination because of sexual orientation. The Defense Department said it will treat sexual-orientation-based discrimination the same way it treats discrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, age and national origin.

Issues remain over transgender military members, who are still barred from service. Despite that, the National Center for Transgender Equality says more than 15,000 transgender people already are serving in the military, while more than 134,000 American veterans are transgender.

Krista Mangiliman, who is with the Navy Region Hawaii information technology department, was the principal organizer of Wednesday’s event, even though she is not gay.

“It’s something I’ve always supported,” she said.

“It’s really good to see. It’s nice to have that support,” said the Air Force’s Muro. “When I first came in, we didn’t have that support. So it was hard thinking, ‘Oh, I could get kicked out for something that I can’t change.’”