Countries that allow gays in the military -

Twenty-five countries allowed military service by openly gay people as of June 2009.

-- They are:
Australia,
Austria,
Belgium,
Canada,
Czech Republic,
Denmark,
Estonia,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Ireland,
Israel,
Italy,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Slovenia,
South Africa,
Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
United Kingdom,
Uruguay.

While all of these have smaller populations than the USA, I would hardly describe all of them as lowering their standards, taking what they could get. I see them as being more progressive than we are.