Dallas, an Albuquerque volunteer, and her son Ren recently had the rare privilege of attending a Washington, D.C. reception for LGBT equality with President Obama. She didn’t get to meet the President, but she did have a very special White House moment.

"There was a man in uniform who was slowly pushing his way up to the front. At first, I didn’t want to let him by because everyone wanted to shake the President’s hand.

Then I had a change of heart. The repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' made it possible for so many of these folks to come in uniform. This moment was even more important to LGBT members of the military than it was to me.

So I did what I could to make room for him and tried to get others to do the same. At one point, the military man said loudly 'I want to meet my boss,' in the hope that people would let him through.

As it became clear that the President could not see the man in uniform, I encouraged the guy to just reach out for him.

The President saw the hand and the uniform and reached back to him, shaking the service member’s hand and speaking directly to him.

It was an emotional moment for me, so I can only imagine what it did for this man. Ren and I were honored to be a part of that moment."

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A version of this was posted July 9 on the New Mexico state blog.