POZ Community Forums
Off Topic Forums => Off Topic Forum => Topic started by: red_Dragon888 on September 21, 2011, 12:26:01 am
-
Gay Airman on DADT Repeal: ‘We’ve Been Here All Along’
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/gay-airman-on-dadt-repeal-weve-been-here-all-along/
(http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/gay-airman-on-dadt-repeal-weve-been-here-all-along/)
By Kristina Wong
Sep 20, 2011 11:02pm
Gay Airman on DADT Repeal: ‘We’ve Been Here All Along’
If Staff Sgt. Jonathan Mills wants to get across one message about gay service members, it’s that “We haven’t just popped up today, we’ve been here all along.”
Mills is a gay active-duty service member in the Air Force who can now serve openly, thanks to Tuesday’s final repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) law.
The 18-year-old law prohibited gay service members from serving openly in the military, and was officially repealed Tuesday at 12:01 a.m.
Mills said the most common misconception about gay service members is that “we all seek to invade each other’s privacy,” and that “sharing is going to be a problem.”
Questions about whether gay and straight service members can share showers or sleeping quarters are disingenuous, he said, because “gays have been in the military all along.”
Prior to the repeal, Mills was forced to evade answering simple questions by co-workers, such as “How was your weekend?” or “Whom did you spend the weekend with?”
He said gay service members would often have to ignore those questions completely, deflect, or lie — which built distrust with coworkers very quickly.
But on Tuesday, Mills came out publicly, speaking at a press conference on the Hill.
“Today I feel extremely elated,” he told ABC News on Tuesday. “A heavy load has been lifted. I’m really grateful that our Congress came together to work to repeal this law.” ....
-
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/gays-and-lesbians-celebrate-dadt-repeal
(http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/gays-and-lesbians-celebrate-dadt-repeal)
Gays and lesbians celebrate DADT repeal
Gay servicemembers say there's more work to do
Updated: Tuesday, 20 Sep 2011, 9:43 PM CDT
Published : Tuesday, 20 Sep 2011, 9:43 PM CDT
Doug Shupe
AUSTIN (KXAN) - In Austin, more than a hundred people gathered to celebrate the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT).
Hush nightclub at 4th and Congress, in the Warehouse District, hosted the event.
Gay and lesbian service members say Tuesday would not have been possible without years of courage and perseverance.
Although they say it is an achievement, they say the work is not done. They also hope this repeal will lead to overcoming other obstacles in the future.
When Maggie Vaden joined the reserves in 2006, she says the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy worried her parents more than her.
"They were just like, maybe you should finish college or not join it at all because you could get fired or kicked out," said Vaden.
But Vaden enlisted anyway and was deployed to Iraq in 2008. Through it all she always watched over her shoulder--only sharing she was a lesbian with trusted friends. It was not always easy to do.
"Being a soldier, when you're fighting you already have enough on your mind," said Vaden."
Now in the National Guard, Vaden is prouder than ever to serve her country.
"We can finally be who we are," said Vaden.
Virgil A. Richard spent 36 years active duty in the Army.
He retired from military service after the Gulf War and in 2003 took another brave step.
"I said, you know, it's time for me to come out and do something to try to change the world," said Richard.
He then helped lobby and advocate for legislation to repeal DADT.
"It was this year or never and it happened this year," said Richard. ...