In memoratn of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell twelve years ago, former airman Nick tells his story of what was like for him to serve the Uned Stat armed forc as a gay man the 1980s. His terview is broken to two parts. Part one is what was origally broadst on KIOS. Part two is the rt of Nick's story.
Contents:
- I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
- RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
- GAY THE MILARY, PART 1
- LEADG ADVOCY GROUP FOR GAY RIGHTS THE US MILARY SHUTTG DOWN
- GAYS THE MILARY
- GAYS THE MILARY/LGBT LAW
- I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.
I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
* can u be gay in the military *
Sce 2011, openly gay, lbian and bisexual men and women have been permted to serve the ary. It wasn’t until 1982 that the ary enacted a policy explicly banng gay men and lbians om their ranks.
And the early 1940s, was classified as a mental illns, disqualifyg gay men and lbians om service.
RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
The Uned Stat ary stggled wh s stance on gay service members for s prr to the signg of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” 1993 by former Print Bill Clton., * can u be gay in the military *
Eighteen years later, Congrs repealed the policy, allowg openly gay, lbian and bisexual people to serve the ary.
GAY THE MILARY, PART 1
But as a gay man, I have been fightg my whole life to enjoy the very privileg I am entled to as both a beholr and protector of them.
LEADG ADVOCY GROUP FOR GAY RIGHTS THE US MILARY SHUTTG DOWN
I was one of few soldiers who joed the service before graduatg high school, but the admistratn at the time, which I believe was homophobic, chose to act as if I never existed bee of my queer hate that I experienced growg up on Long Island was my first enunter wh how others would treat me as a queer soldier. In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out.
In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.
GAYS THE MILARY
Gay Water, however, is out and proud. The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny.
GAYS THE MILARY/LGBT LAW
“Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh.
He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry. The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail.
I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.
Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.
“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”. For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch.
Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said. Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space.