Army’s first openly gay general retir after spirg others | Article | The Uned Stat Army

Contents:

• ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
• BOOG A GAY SOLDIER
• I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.
• OPN LISTENERS DIDN’T JT BOO A `GAY’ SOLDIER. THEY BOOED A SOLDIER.
• RSIA SHUTS DOWN THE NEWSPAPER THAT BROKE THE CHECHNYA GAY TORTURE MPS STORY

ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS

In 2010 when I was ployed to Iraq, I had to lie about who I was bee I'm a gay soldier and I didn't want to lose my job. My qutn is, unr one of your princi, do you tend to circumvent the progrs that's been ma for gay and lbian soldiers the ary?

BOOG A GAY SOLDIER

Tammy Smh, the ary’s hight-rankg openly gay officer, me out 2012, she has tried beg an example of livg thentilly while also beg a bean of visibily to other Soldiers and their fai.

The policy banned lbians, gay men and bisexuals om servg the ary. It terrified her to e out as gay such a public way, but she felt a rponsibily to do , she said.

I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.

As difficult as was for her, g out publicly as gay “may not have been as easy for someone who was at a lower rank, ” Smh said an terview last week.

OPN LISTENERS DIDN’T JT BOO A `GAY’ SOLDIER. THEY BOOED A SOLDIER.

“When I me durg the 80s, thgs were different for women and gay people, and now 2021, the societal l are different aga. “People mt fd fort and ph back some of that ternalized homophobia, and build a b on the journey between hont and thentic. The are two cril steps toward addrsg discrimatn that harmed an timated 100, 000 or more veterans discharged for homosexualy between World War II and the 2011 repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Psychiatric screeng at ductn centers clud qutns about homosexualy, seekg to intify and disqualify gay recs om the outset.

RSIA SHUTS DOWN THE NEWSPAPER THAT BROKE THE CHECHNYA GAY TORTURE MPS STORY

But beg disqualified om ary service bee of homosexualy was highly stigmatizg, wh the potential to vastate a rec’s civilian life, so many did not answer tthfully. Addnally, some ducte answered hontly based on the specific wordg of the qutns they were asked (for example, some reported beg asked whether they “liked girls”), others may not have thought of themselv as gay until after they were already the service, and ocsnally some answered that they had experienced attractn to the same sex but were not actually disqualified, part bee of officials’ ncerns that claratns of homosexualy were a means of evadg the the armed forc, however, even spicn of beg gay uld be grounds for discharge, and threatened accs to veterans benefs.

Commanrs equently issued “blue discharg” for spected homosexualy, and they also went disproportnately to Black soldiers.