At Wt Pot, Hidn Gay Cats Put Spotlight - Fay Equaly

Contents:

• GAY, BLACK GYMNAST FDS HE N BE HIMSELF AT WT POT
• AT WT POT, HIDN GAY CATS PUT SPOTLIGHT
• SO WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE A GAY CAT AT WT POT THE DAYS?FOUR YEARS AFTER THE REPEAL OF “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL,” THE AMY IS A HOTBED OF SWEET DIFFERENCE.BY DAVE CULLENJUNE 30, 2015FROM AP PHOTO/MIKE GROLL.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVESARA EMSLEY ALWAYS KNEW SHE WANTED TO JO THE U.S. ARMY, EVER SCE SHE WAS A SMALL CHILD. “YOU N ASK ANY OF THE KIDS I MA GO THROUGH AN OBSTACLE URSE AT MY SIXTH BIRTHDAY PARTY,” THE WT POT T RECENTLY SAID. SHE DRSED UP AS SOLDIER FOR HALLOWEEN FOR “MANY, MANY YEARS,” AND NEVER PSED TO WORRY ABOUT WHETHER THE ARY WOULD LET A GIRL LIKE HER FIGHT.THEN SHE H ADOLCENCE AND BEGAN TO DISVER HER SEXUALY. SHE DIDN’T LIKE WHAT SHE FELT. GIRLS LIKE THAT WERE FORBIDN OM SERVG, SO SHE NIED HER OWN URG. SHE ULDN’T LET THEM STAND THE WAY OF HER DREAM.EMSLEY FIRST WENT TO LLEGE AT VIRGIA TECH, WHERE SHE FALLY ME OUT TO HERSELF AND TSTED OTHERS, BUT HID HER SEXUALY OM HER PEERS THE LLEGE’S R.O.T.C. PROGRAM. BY THEN, THE ARY HAD LIFTED S ABSURD “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” POLICY, BUT EMSLEY STILL FELT WAS TOO DANGERO TO SAY ANYTHG. THEN THE U.S. MILARY AMY AT WT POT ACCEPTED HER. SHE EXPECTED TO DIVE MUCH EPER TO THE CLOSET WHEN SHE ARRIVED LAST SUMMER FOR BASIC TRAG. “I ULDN’T HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG,” SHE SAID. “I RECEIVED NOTHG BUT SUPPORT OR DIFFERENCE.”FUNNY HOW APPEALG “DIFFERENCE” SOUND. SUCH A SURPRISGLY BETIFUL WORD. AT FIRST GAYS ASKED FOR TOLERANCE, BUT WHAT A GRADG GOAL THAT WAS: WHO THE HELL WANTS TO BE TOLERATED? THEN WE ASKED FOR ACCEPTANCE, BUT MAYBE “DIFFERENCE” WOULD BE BT OF ALL. IT SOUND THAT WAY WHEN EMSLEY SPOKE ABOUT THIS MARCH AT AN OFFICIAL WT POT CEREMONY I ATTEND HONORG GAY TS AND SPECTM, THE AMY’S GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE. INDIFFERENCE. THE ULTIMATE GOAL, THE CHERISHED HAZY OBJECTIVE GAYS HOPE FOR ON SOME DISTANT HORIZON HAS ALWAYS BEEN DIFFERENCE. WHERE NOBODY GIV A SH. YOU’RE A LBIAN? COOL—WE WON’T BE TERTED THE SAME GUYS.EMSLEY HAD REASON TO FEAR ACCEPTANCE, PECIALLY THE ARY. MUCH OF THE NATN CELEBRATED THE SUPREME COURT MARRIAGE-EQUALY CISN FRIDAY, BUT LARGE SECTORS WERE FUMG. IT’S EASY TO PICTURE SOME OF THE MOST STUBBORN POCKETS OF RISTANCE. IT’S EASY TO PICTURE WT POT RIGHT UP THERE WH AN N.F.L. LOCKER ROOM.WHEN I ENLISTED THE FANTRY, 1983, I DIDN’T MEET A SGLE GAY GUY—NOT EVEN THE MIRROR. I WAS SO SANELY HOMOPHOBIC THAT I CEIVED EVEN MYSELF. TWO GUYS MY PLATOON WERE ACCED OF GETTG TOO CLOSE, AND WAS NOT PRETTY: NO BEATGS, JT OSTRACISM AND HUIATN. AND I WAS FAR TOO TERRIFIED TO FEND THEM.NEARLY 30 YEARS LATER, WH “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” STILL EFFECT, A LITENANT LONEL I’VE BEEN FOLLOWG FOR MY UPG BOOK ON GAY SOLDIERS ME HOME OM AFGHANISTAN. DPE WORSENG PTSD SYMPTOMS, HE ULDN’T SEE AN ARMY SHRK FOR FEAR OF OUTG HIMSELF AND ENDG HIS REER.SCE THE REPEAL OF “THE POLICY,” HOWEVER, I’VE MARVELED AT THE PACE OF CHANGE WH THE ARY. ON THREE TRIPS TO THE PENTAGON AND ANOTHER TO GUANTáNAMO BAY WH THAT LITENANT LONEL, I ULD NOT FD A SOUL WHO SEEMED TO GIVE A SH ABOUT HIS SEXUALY. BUT NOTHG PREPARED ME FOR THE WT POT BANQUET THIS SPRG.INSI A SPAC HALL WH A PANORAMIC VIEW OF A STRATEGIC BEND THE HUDSON RIVER, ABOUT A HUNDRED TS, OFFICERS, AND ALUMNI DRS BLU SAT AROUND TABL SET WH THE GOOD CHA. SPECTM HAS TWO FACULTY AND 40 T MEMBERS, A MIXTURE OF GAY, STRAIGHT, BI, AND UNCID. QUE A FEW FALL TO THAT LAST TEGORY. ONE T AT MY TABLE SCRIBED HIMSELF AS STRAIGHT, BUT THEN LATER NFID HE HAD MSED AROUND WH GUYS. STILL WORKG OUT. FAIR ENOUGH.AWARDS WERE PRENTED TO LEARS THE L.G.B.T. STGGLE, WHO GAVE STIRRG SPEECH, BUT THEY ULDN’T PETE WH THE TS WHO TOOK THE LECTERN TO RELAY THEIR STORI. MAC SIMS, A SOPHOMORE, SAID HE HAD HID HIS SEXUALY FOR A WHILE WHEN HE ARRIVED 2013. THE POLICY HAD END, BUT HE FEARED REPERCSNS. EVENTUALLY, SENSG THE DIFFERENCE, HE TOOK THE PLUNGE AND NEVER REGRETTED . “I E OM GEIA AND I WAS KD OF PROJECTG HOW PEOPLE HAD TREATED ME,” HE SAID.SIMS EXPRSED AMAZEMENT AT THE CHANGE HE’S WNSED A SGLE YEAR. AT LAST YEAR’S SPECTM BANQUET, NEARLY EVERY SPEAKER TALKED ABOUT THEIR STGGL UNR “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL,” HE SAID. THIS YEAR, WAS ABOUT THE EASE OF ACCEPTANCE—MOST TS WERE NEVER REQUIRED TO CEIVE. “THAT TIME IS BEHD ,” HE SAID.SIMS RELAYED A NVERSATN HE’D JT HAD WH A STRAIGHT LONEL WHO HAD LIVED THROUGH THE POLICY. THE LONEL SAID HE’D KNOWN OF GAYS HIS UNS OVER THE YEARS, BUT THEY ALWAYS HAD TO LIE. THIS MARCH, HE HAD ASKED A T ABOUT HIS SPRG BREAK PLANS, AND THE GUY NONCHALANTLY RPOND, “I’M GOG TO SPA WH MY BOYIEND.” DIDN’T EVEN PSE TO WORRY ABOUT .PROFSOR AARON BELK ACCEPTED THE LEARSHIP AWARD FOR HIS PIVOTAL ROLE OVERTURNG “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL.” BELK IS THE FOUNDG DIRECTOR OF THE PALM CENTER, A THK TANK DITED TO PROMOTG ACCEPTANCE OF GAYS THE ARY. HE GAVE THE TS A SENSE OF JT HOW FAR THEY HAD E. HE SCRIBED A OF SPEECH AT DOZENS OF ARY BAS, WHERE ONE TY MOMENT ON THAT VERY MP STOOD OUT. AFTER HE GAVE A SPEECH AT WT POT AROUND 2003, ONE T WAED FOR EVERYONE ELSE TO FILE OUT. ONLY WHEN WAS SAFE DID THE T APPROACH BELK TO SAY, “THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK, SIR.” THEN HE TURNED AND LEFT.“THAT WAS THE EXTENT HE FELT SAFE MUNITG WH ME,” BELK SAID.THERE WERE PLENTY OF HAPPY L.G.B. TS AT THE CEREMONY, BUT ALL THE TS WERE OLR. TRANSGENRS ARE STILL BANNED OM THE U.S. ARY—OR SO THE ARY THKS. THE HEALTHY SHOWG OF TRANS ALUMNI PROVED THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SERVG SECRET FOR YEARS.ACTIVIST ALLYSON ROBSON, A 1994 GRADUATE WHO SERVED AS AN OFFICER THE AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY BEFORE TRANSNG, STOOD UP TO ACCEPT THE COURAGE AWARD, BTOWED ON DIVIDUALS WHO “CHOOSE THE HARR RIGHT OVER THE EASIER WRONG.” (IT’S A LE PARAPHRASED OM THE WT POT CAT PRAYER—NICE TOUCH.) ROBSON WAS ACPANIED BY HER WIFE AND WT POT CLASSMATE, DANYELLE, WH WHOM SHE HAS FOUR CHILDREN.A REARCH STUTE RECENTLY TIMATED THAT 15,500 TRANSGENR PEOPLE ARE SERVG THE U.S. ARY RIGHT NOW. DEFENSE SECRETARY ASH CARTER RAISED EYEBROWS FEBARY WHEN HE SAID HE’S “OPEN-MD” WHEN TO LIFTG THE BAN ON TRANSGENR SOLDIERS. BUT A PENTAGON SPOKMAN LATER SAID THERE IS NO “SPECIFIC REVIEW” UNR NSIRATN TO END THE BAN. LAST WEEK, OBAMA CELEBRATED GAY PRI AT THE WHE HOE, AND VED TWO ACTIVE TRANS SERVICE MEMBERS AND FOUR TRANS VETS—A FIRST.AT THE WT POT EVENT, PROFSOR BELK SAID THE PALM CENTER IS NOW TURNG S ATTENTN TO DISMANTLG THE TELLECTUAL UNRPNGS OF THE TRANSGENR BAN. “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” WAS BASED ON THE MYTH THAT GAYS WOULD STROY UN HN, SO OVERTURNG REQUIRED NVCG KEY GENERALS OTHERWISE, BELK SAID. NOW THE CENTER IS HAMMERG AWAY AT THE NOTN THAT TRANSGENRS ARE SOMEHOW MEDILLY UNF. HE SAID HIS TEAM RECENTLY PERSUAD A FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL TO SIGN ON TO A STUDY REFUTG THE CLAIM.IT SURE FELT WELG AT THE BANQUET, BUT I HAD TO WONR HOW GAY-AFFIRMG WAS OUTSI THE BUBBLE OF THAT HALL. WHAT WAS LIKE THE BARS? I DIDN’T HAVE TO WA LONG. ABOUT HALF THE ATTEN, AND MOST OF THE TS, HEAD STRAIGHT TO PATTON’S TAVERN, A BAR RIGHT ON MP. IT WAS SATURDAY NIGHT, AND THE PLACE WAS THUMPG.NOBODY SEEMED TO NOTICE WHEN A HERD OF L.G.B.T.S SCEND. THE BEER FLOWED, THE ENERGY WAS HIGH, AND THE NVERSATN GOT RACY. SOLDIERS MAKG SEX JOK, WHAT A SURPRISE. IT WAS A SMALLISH PLACE, PACKED CLOSE, AND I ULD EASILY OVERHEAR NVERSATNS ALL AROUND . THEY ULD CLEARLY HEAR , CLEARLY TELL WE WERE GAY. AND NOBODY RED. WE DRANK FOR A UPLE HOURS, AND I KEPT AN EYE ON THE CROWDS AROUND THE WHOLE TIME. NO SIGN OF REVULSN, NOT EVEN A RAISED EYEBROW OR CUR STARE. COMPLETE DIFFERENCE. IT FELT WONRFUL.DAVE CULLEN
• GAY WT POT TS TAKE THEIR BOYIENDS TO ARY AMY'S WTER FORMAL DANCE
• GAY CAT SLAMS AIR FORCE AMY'S DEFENSE OF 'EX-GAY' THERAPIST LEADG COUNSELG PROGRAM
• SEA T LEAR JEROME GAY FILMED SEX ATTACK ON BOY
• TEXAS A&M GALVTON CORPS OF CATS SELECTS OPENLY GAY T MANR
• GAY CLUBS EMERGE AT U.S. ARY AMI
• DANIEL AND LARRY LENNOX-CHOATE, FIRST GAY COUPLE MARRIED AT WT POT, ATTACKED NYC

GAY, BLACK GYMNAST FDS HE N BE HIMSELF AT WT POT

What hurt then was the fact that the “choice” I ma to reveal myself as gay uld impact the choice they ma to keep me.

AT WT POT, HIDN GAY CATS PUT SPOTLIGHT

I have always been ut to validate others opns of the sport beg a gay bee I was “a gay” who happened to do gymnastics. If I played around touchg others or makg “gay” jok like my straight unterparts did, would not be seen as a joke or taken lightly. That’s a rhetoril qutn that should be thought about for those who neglect to thk about the gay teammat on their team.

It sound that way when Emsley spoke about this March at an official Wt Pot ceremony I attend honorg gay ts and Spectm, the amy’s gay-straight alliance. And I was far too terrified to fend 30 years later, wh “Don’t ask, don’t tell” still effect, a litenant lonel I’ve been followg for my upg book on gay soldiers me home om Afghanistan. They are gay, and they exist largely the shadows of this grane stutn known for producg prints and generals, where stayg closeted is sential to avoid discharge unr the ary’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“The most important thg I’ve learned here is how to be a good actor, ” said one gay male t, who grew up Philalphia and is his fourth year at the rignatn this month of Kathere Miller, a top t who blogged anonymoly about her lbianism, has turned a spotlight on the hidn gay culture here and revived bate on mp about “don’t ask, don’t tell, ” at a time when Washgton is also foced on the issue. Miller, who wrote unr the name “Private Send Class Cizen” about endurg gay slurs and fakg a heterosexual datg history, is transferrg to Yale Universy this fall and has bee somethg of a media celebry, appearg on “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC and on ABC News. Interviews wh three gay ts, who spoke on the ndn of anonymy bee revealg their inti uld rult expulsn, as well as nversatns wh Ms.

SO WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE A GAY CAT AT WT POT THE DAYS?FOUR YEARS AFTER THE REPEAL OF “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL,” THE AMY IS A HOTBED OF SWEET DIFFERENCE.BY DAVE CULLENJUNE 30, 2015FROM AP PHOTO/MIKE GROLL.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVESARA EMSLEY ALWAYS KNEW SHE WANTED TO JO THE U.S. ARMY, EVER SCE SHE WAS A SMALL CHILD. “YOU N ASK ANY OF THE KIDS I MA GO THROUGH AN OBSTACLE URSE AT MY SIXTH BIRTHDAY PARTY,” THE WT POT T RECENTLY SAID. SHE DRSED UP AS SOLDIER FOR HALLOWEEN FOR “MANY, MANY YEARS,” AND NEVER PSED TO WORRY ABOUT WHETHER THE ARY WOULD LET A GIRL LIKE HER FIGHT.THEN SHE H ADOLCENCE AND BEGAN TO DISVER HER SEXUALY. SHE DIDN’T LIKE WHAT SHE FELT. GIRLS LIKE THAT WERE FORBIDN OM SERVG, SO SHE NIED HER OWN URG. SHE ULDN’T LET THEM STAND THE WAY OF HER DREAM.EMSLEY FIRST WENT TO LLEGE AT VIRGIA TECH, WHERE SHE FALLY ME OUT TO HERSELF AND TSTED OTHERS, BUT HID HER SEXUALY OM HER PEERS THE LLEGE’S R.O.T.C. PROGRAM. BY THEN, THE ARY HAD LIFTED S ABSURD “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” POLICY, BUT EMSLEY STILL FELT WAS TOO DANGERO TO SAY ANYTHG. THEN THE U.S. MILARY AMY AT WT POT ACCEPTED HER. SHE EXPECTED TO DIVE MUCH EPER TO THE CLOSET WHEN SHE ARRIVED LAST SUMMER FOR BASIC TRAG. “I ULDN’T HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG,” SHE SAID. “I RECEIVED NOTHG BUT SUPPORT OR DIFFERENCE.”FUNNY HOW APPEALG “DIFFERENCE” SOUND. SUCH A SURPRISGLY BETIFUL WORD. AT FIRST GAYS ASKED FOR TOLERANCE, BUT WHAT A GRADG GOAL THAT WAS: WHO THE HELL WANTS TO BE TOLERATED? THEN WE ASKED FOR ACCEPTANCE, BUT MAYBE “DIFFERENCE” WOULD BE BT OF ALL. IT SOUND THAT WAY WHEN EMSLEY SPOKE ABOUT THIS MARCH AT AN OFFICIAL WT POT CEREMONY I ATTEND HONORG GAY TS AND SPECTM, THE AMY’S GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE. INDIFFERENCE. THE ULTIMATE GOAL, THE CHERISHED HAZY OBJECTIVE GAYS HOPE FOR ON SOME DISTANT HORIZON HAS ALWAYS BEEN DIFFERENCE. WHERE NOBODY GIV A SH. YOU’RE A LBIAN? COOL—WE WON’T BE TERTED THE SAME GUYS.EMSLEY HAD REASON TO FEAR ACCEPTANCE, PECIALLY THE ARY. MUCH OF THE NATN CELEBRATED THE SUPREME COURT MARRIAGE-EQUALY CISN FRIDAY, BUT LARGE SECTORS WERE FUMG. IT’S EASY TO PICTURE SOME OF THE MOST STUBBORN POCKETS OF RISTANCE. IT’S EASY TO PICTURE WT POT RIGHT UP THERE WH AN N.F.L. LOCKER ROOM.WHEN I ENLISTED THE FANTRY, 1983, I DIDN’T MEET A SGLE GAY GUY—NOT EVEN THE MIRROR. I WAS SO SANELY HOMOPHOBIC THAT I CEIVED EVEN MYSELF. TWO GUYS MY PLATOON WERE ACCED OF GETTG TOO CLOSE, AND WAS NOT PRETTY: NO BEATGS, JT OSTRACISM AND HUIATN. AND I WAS FAR TOO TERRIFIED TO FEND THEM.NEARLY 30 YEARS LATER, WH “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” STILL EFFECT, A LITENANT LONEL I’VE BEEN FOLLOWG FOR MY UPG BOOK ON GAY SOLDIERS ME HOME OM AFGHANISTAN. DPE WORSENG PTSD SYMPTOMS, HE ULDN’T SEE AN ARMY SHRK FOR FEAR OF OUTG HIMSELF AND ENDG HIS REER.SCE THE REPEAL OF “THE POLICY,” HOWEVER, I’VE MARVELED AT THE PACE OF CHANGE WH THE ARY. ON THREE TRIPS TO THE PENTAGON AND ANOTHER TO GUANTáNAMO BAY WH THAT LITENANT LONEL, I ULD NOT FD A SOUL WHO SEEMED TO GIVE A SH ABOUT HIS SEXUALY. BUT NOTHG PREPARED ME FOR THE WT POT BANQUET THIS SPRG.INSI A SPAC HALL WH A PANORAMIC VIEW OF A STRATEGIC BEND THE HUDSON RIVER, ABOUT A HUNDRED TS, OFFICERS, AND ALUMNI DRS BLU SAT AROUND TABL SET WH THE GOOD CHA. SPECTM HAS TWO FACULTY AND 40 T MEMBERS, A MIXTURE OF GAY, STRAIGHT, BI, AND UNCID. QUE A FEW FALL TO THAT LAST TEGORY. ONE T AT MY TABLE SCRIBED HIMSELF AS STRAIGHT, BUT THEN LATER NFID HE HAD MSED AROUND WH GUYS. STILL WORKG OUT. FAIR ENOUGH.AWARDS WERE PRENTED TO LEARS THE L.G.B.T. STGGLE, WHO GAVE STIRRG SPEECH, BUT THEY ULDN’T PETE WH THE TS WHO TOOK THE LECTERN TO RELAY THEIR STORI. MAC SIMS, A SOPHOMORE, SAID HE HAD HID HIS SEXUALY FOR A WHILE WHEN HE ARRIVED 2013. THE POLICY HAD END, BUT HE FEARED REPERCSNS. EVENTUALLY, SENSG THE DIFFERENCE, HE TOOK THE PLUNGE AND NEVER REGRETTED . “I E OM GEIA AND I WAS KD OF PROJECTG HOW PEOPLE HAD TREATED ME,” HE SAID.SIMS EXPRSED AMAZEMENT AT THE CHANGE HE’S WNSED A SGLE YEAR. AT LAST YEAR’S SPECTM BANQUET, NEARLY EVERY SPEAKER TALKED ABOUT THEIR STGGL UNR “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL,” HE SAID. THIS YEAR, WAS ABOUT THE EASE OF ACCEPTANCE—MOST TS WERE NEVER REQUIRED TO CEIVE. “THAT TIME IS BEHD ,” HE SAID.SIMS RELAYED A NVERSATN HE’D JT HAD WH A STRAIGHT LONEL WHO HAD LIVED THROUGH THE POLICY. THE LONEL SAID HE’D KNOWN OF GAYS HIS UNS OVER THE YEARS, BUT THEY ALWAYS HAD TO LIE. THIS MARCH, HE HAD ASKED A T ABOUT HIS SPRG BREAK PLANS, AND THE GUY NONCHALANTLY RPOND, “I’M GOG TO SPA WH MY BOYIEND.” DIDN’T EVEN PSE TO WORRY ABOUT .PROFSOR AARON BELK ACCEPTED THE LEARSHIP AWARD FOR HIS PIVOTAL ROLE OVERTURNG “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL.” BELK IS THE FOUNDG DIRECTOR OF THE PALM CENTER, A THK TANK DITED TO PROMOTG ACCEPTANCE OF GAYS THE ARY. HE GAVE THE TS A SENSE OF JT HOW FAR THEY HAD E. HE SCRIBED A OF SPEECH AT DOZENS OF ARY BAS, WHERE ONE TY MOMENT ON THAT VERY MP STOOD OUT. AFTER HE GAVE A SPEECH AT WT POT AROUND 2003, ONE T WAED FOR EVERYONE ELSE TO FILE OUT. ONLY WHEN WAS SAFE DID THE T APPROACH BELK TO SAY, “THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK, SIR.” THEN HE TURNED AND LEFT.“THAT WAS THE EXTENT HE FELT SAFE MUNITG WH ME,” BELK SAID.THERE WERE PLENTY OF HAPPY L.G.B. TS AT THE CEREMONY, BUT ALL THE TS WERE OLR. TRANSGENRS ARE STILL BANNED OM THE U.S. ARY—OR SO THE ARY THKS. THE HEALTHY SHOWG OF TRANS ALUMNI PROVED THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SERVG SECRET FOR YEARS.ACTIVIST ALLYSON ROBSON, A 1994 GRADUATE WHO SERVED AS AN OFFICER THE AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY BEFORE TRANSNG, STOOD UP TO ACCEPT THE COURAGE AWARD, BTOWED ON DIVIDUALS WHO “CHOOSE THE HARR RIGHT OVER THE EASIER WRONG.” (IT’S A LE PARAPHRASED OM THE WT POT CAT PRAYER—NICE TOUCH.) ROBSON WAS ACPANIED BY HER WIFE AND WT POT CLASSMATE, DANYELLE, WH WHOM SHE HAS FOUR CHILDREN.A REARCH STUTE RECENTLY TIMATED THAT 15,500 TRANSGENR PEOPLE ARE SERVG THE U.S. ARY RIGHT NOW. DEFENSE SECRETARY ASH CARTER RAISED EYEBROWS FEBARY WHEN HE SAID HE’S “OPEN-MD” WHEN TO LIFTG THE BAN ON TRANSGENR SOLDIERS. BUT A PENTAGON SPOKMAN LATER SAID THERE IS NO “SPECIFIC REVIEW” UNR NSIRATN TO END THE BAN. LAST WEEK, OBAMA CELEBRATED GAY PRI AT THE WHE HOE, AND VED TWO ACTIVE TRANS SERVICE MEMBERS AND FOUR TRANS VETS—A FIRST.AT THE WT POT EVENT, PROFSOR BELK SAID THE PALM CENTER IS NOW TURNG S ATTENTN TO DISMANTLG THE TELLECTUAL UNRPNGS OF THE TRANSGENR BAN. “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” WAS BASED ON THE MYTH THAT GAYS WOULD STROY UN HN, SO OVERTURNG REQUIRED NVCG KEY GENERALS OTHERWISE, BELK SAID. NOW THE CENTER IS HAMMERG AWAY AT THE NOTN THAT TRANSGENRS ARE SOMEHOW MEDILLY UNF. HE SAID HIS TEAM RECENTLY PERSUAD A FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL TO SIGN ON TO A STUDY REFUTG THE CLAIM.IT SURE FELT WELG AT THE BANQUET, BUT I HAD TO WONR HOW GAY-AFFIRMG WAS OUTSI THE BUBBLE OF THAT HALL. WHAT WAS LIKE THE BARS? I DIDN’T HAVE TO WA LONG. ABOUT HALF THE ATTEN, AND MOST OF THE TS, HEAD STRAIGHT TO PATTON’S TAVERN, A BAR RIGHT ON MP. IT WAS SATURDAY NIGHT, AND THE PLACE WAS THUMPG.NOBODY SEEMED TO NOTICE WHEN A HERD OF L.G.B.T.S SCEND. THE BEER FLOWED, THE ENERGY WAS HIGH, AND THE NVERSATN GOT RACY. SOLDIERS MAKG SEX JOK, WHAT A SURPRISE. IT WAS A SMALLISH PLACE, PACKED CLOSE, AND I ULD EASILY OVERHEAR NVERSATNS ALL AROUND . THEY ULD CLEARLY HEAR , CLEARLY TELL WE WERE GAY. AND NOBODY RED. WE DRANK FOR A UPLE HOURS, AND I KEPT AN EYE ON THE CROWDS AROUND THE WHOLE TIME. NO SIGN OF REVULSN, NOT EVEN A RAISED EYEBROW OR CUR STARE. COMPLETE DIFFERENCE. IT FELT WONRFUL.DAVE CULLEN

The hidg begs on Day 1: new ts mt sign a document acknowledgg that revealg one’s homosexualy n lead to discharge, as n monstratg “a propensy to engage homosexual acts. Miller, whose blog began April but apparently elud amy officials, said she qu voluntarily by submtg a letter revealg her about gay culture at Wt Pot, Lt. ”For gay ts, reprsg their sexualy is jt one part of adaptg to Wt Pot, where life is regimented and lived mostly uniform.

GAY WT POT TS TAKE THEIR BOYIENDS TO ARY AMY'S WTER FORMAL DANCE

Those who earn weekend pass might make late-night ns to gay bars Manhattan, about 50 away, or to gay parti on nearby llege mp, often wh stunts they met through terllegiate sports. Both said they had been openly gay high school but found gay socializg nearly impossible durg the strict first year at Wt Pot, then began to nfi a tight group of loyal iends as liberti creased.

GAY CAT SLAMS AIR FORCE AMY'S DEFENSE OF 'EX-GAY' THERAPIST LEADG COUNSELG PROGRAM

”She said she wore baggy clothg when gog to a gay club the cy, but tighter garments — to “drs straight, ” as she put — when headg to the Firstie Club on mp. “I had a roommate who told me, ‘Whenever I see two gay people walkg down the street, mak me want to throw up, ’ ” the senr female t said.

Last year, he fell for a guy at a gay bar Manhattan who, to the surprise of both of them, turned out to be a on mp, they enjoyed and suffered through a seven-month relatnship on the “down low, ” he said. ”Becky Kanis, a 1991 Wt Pot graduate and chairwoman of the group Knights Out, which offers guidance to gay Wt Pot ts, said Ms.

SEA T LEAR JEROME GAY FILMED SEX ATTACK ON BOY

Miller’s rignatn provid a morale boost to gay ts by alertg the public to the “shared adversy” they endured havg to mask their sexual Kanis, a former Army pta who now liv Los Angel and works wh a social servic anizatn, Common Ground, said that her own sexual orientatn was vtigated twice durg her years at Wt Pot — iends terrogated, lockbox searched — and that gay ts often spoke , g genrls pronouns, for example, when talkg about signifint others.

”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 1 of the New York edn wh the headle: Rignatn Puts Gay Cats, Hidn at Wt Pot, Spotlight. Published: 01:57 BST, 6 Febary 2013 | Updated: 01:58 BST, 6 Febary 2013 Two gay Wt Pot ts acpanied their boyiends to the ary amy's formal wter danc upstate New York last weekend. Out: The Wt Pot t walked arm and arm wh his date to attend a formal dner as part of Yearlg Wter Weekend Date: This third-year t was acpanied by his tuxedo-clad boyiend for his class' formal dance The photos of the dat were circulated by Knights Out, a Wt Pot alumni group for Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenred veterans.

The current stunt, who is a Yearlg - a term for sophomore, is affiliated wh Spectm, a Gay-Straight Alliance of the Uned Stat Milary Facebook postg garnered nearly 2, 000 Lik and sr of ments support of the ary's acceptance of homosexual members. Fearls: The same-sex dat e 16 months after the Pentagon repealed s ban on openly gay service Proud: The photos of the dat were circulated by Knights Out, a Wt Pot alumni group for Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenred veterans Later on Tuday, Knights Out released a picture of another Wt Pot t wh his boyiend at a formal event for third-year stunts, lled Cows. S., would have been unheard of years past when the ary's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' ban on openly gay service members was place.

TEXAS A&M GALVTON CORPS OF CATS SELECTS OPENLY GAY T MANR

Air Force Amy has been full damage-ntrol mo sce LGBT blogger John Aravosis revealed earlier this week that the amy, based Colorado Sprgs, Colo., has placed a proment supporter of "ex-gay" therapy charge of s "Learship and Character" t unselg program.

GAY CLUBS EMERGE AT U.S. ARY AMI

Rosebh has a long history of volvement antigay anizatns, cludg as a former vice print of Foc on the Fay, which has s headquarters jt a few om the amy's entry gate. Acrdg to books Rosebh thored and his own publicly available rearch material, he has spent the past two s of his reer advotg for the scientifilly discreded, harmful practice of "ex-gay" or "reparative" therapy that aims to turn gay people straight. Rosebh has spent the past two s "helpg" other men "overe" their homosexual sir -- most recently as a private unselg "ach" where, for $125 an hour, Rosebh would work to "cure" gay men and other "sex addicts.

DANIEL AND LARRY LENNOX-CHOATE, FIRST GAY COUPLE MARRIED AT WT POT, ATTACKED NYC

" Rosebh is also a former clil member of the Natnal Associatn for the Rearch and Therapy of Homosexualy, which promot junk science that claims sexual orientatn n be changed through prayer, therapy, and willpower. Both California and New Jersey have now outlawed the scientifilly bunked practice for licensed therapists workg wh rponse to Aravosis's sthg report, amy officials held a meetg wh gay and lbian ts who are part of the amy's LGBQ affy group, Spectm.

'"But an anonymo letter om a gay t published by the Milary Relig Freedom Foundatn stroys the amy's talkg pots as a "self-servg" "crock. Comedian Alec Mapa and drag superstar Kylie Sonique Love -hosted the gala, where wners were revealed 33 GayVN Awards tegori--18 of which were voted on by the Maddox was one of the big wners of the night, takg home two awards: Favore Porn Star Creator and Favore C*ck. Image source, Vic RodrickImage ptn, Jerome Gay filmed the asslt on his phone and showed to other boysA teenage sea t lear has been nvicted of sexually assltg a 12-year-old boy his re durg a trag weekend Wt Gay, who was 16 at the time, watched another t rry out the attack and rerd on his cint happened at an Army Cat Centre at Dmshoreland Hoe, Broxburn, November 2012.

He will be sentenced on 19 posnsLivgston Sheriff Court heard that the victim's snorg had been keepg the other ts awake and they had thrown pillows at him and prodd him to try to wake him boys then "giggled and lghed" while Gay, now 18, filmed the youngster beg dragged - still sleepg - out of his bunk bend on to the jury heard that although he was charge of the dormory, Gay did nothg to stop another t pullg the boy out of his sleepg bag and strippg him of his pyjamas before gropg wns told the jury that the t "simulated sexual posns" wh the victim while he was still wns said he thought the experience was "pretty shan" - an east of Stland exprsn meang "unfair" - for the boy volved. It was only later that he learned om another Sea Cat officer, the mother of one of the boys, that Gay had shown a vio of the asslt to footage was never revered bee Gay claimed he had changed his mobile handset by the time he was taed by, om East Lton, East Lothian, nied mtg the offence and lodged a special fence of crimatn. However, by the time he was a sophomore llege, a secret he’d kept sce he was five years old began affectg him physilly.