A Brief History of Gay Milary Policy and Improvg Acceptance, Integratn and Health among LGBT Service Members | USC Social Work

are gays allowed in the military

While the LGBT ary muny has seen creased reprentatn the past , stris are still beg ma to improve acceptance, tegratn and health for gay and transgenr service members.

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US ARY LIFTS BAN ON OPENLY GAY TROOPS

Barack Obama wel repeal of 18-year 'don't ask, don't tell' policy as gay lobby groups across US celebrate * are gays allowed in the military *

Eighteen years later, Congrs repealed the policy, allowg openly gay, lbian and bisexual people to serve the ary.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE NOW LEGAL FOR GAY MILARY COUPL ALL 50 STAT

* are gays allowed in the military *

Don't Ask, Don't Tell – the US ary's 18-year ban on openly gay and lbian service personnel – has officially been repealed, herg a new era for the untry's armed a statement Print Barack Obama weled the end of a policy that he said had forced gay and lbian members to "lie about who they are" repeal, which took effect om midnight on Tuday, was celebrated as "momento news" by gay lobby groups across the US, who have long fought agast the policy, and among the ary's timated 65, 000 servg gay and lbian servicemen and said he was nfint that liftg the ban would enhance natnal secury. "As of today, our armed forc will no longer lose the extraordary skills and bat experience of so many gay and lbian service members. "Last December, the print signed legislatn to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy (DADT), which had been passed by ngrs and signed to law 1993 unr then-Print Bill paid tribute to gay and lbian troops who had been discharged as a rult of the policy, and to those who had lost their liv to serve their than 14, 500 US service personnel have been thrown out of ary service sce the DADT policy took effect, acrdg to the non-prof watchdog and lobby group, the Servicemembers Legal DefenseDefence a memo, the Pentagon said that the policy would not harm ary reads, un hn or recg and retag members.

"Effective today, statements about sexual orientatn or lawful acts of homosexual nduct will not be nsired as a bar to ary service, " said Clifford Stanley, the US unr secretary of fence for personnel and reads.

"All service members are to treat one another wh digny and rpect, regardls of sexual orientatn, " he said, warng that "harassment or abe based on sexual orientatn" would not be tolerated the Pentagon said recers are now acceptg applitns om openly gay a statement, the US army said: "From this day forward, gay and lbian soldiers may serve our army wh the digny and rpect they serve.

MILARY VETERANS KICKED OUT FOR BEG GAY STILL FIGHTG FOR HONORABLE DISCHARG

Most lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr service members are still reluctant to disclose their sexual orientatn or inty. * are gays allowed in the military *

"Across the US, groups that have long lobbied for the change weled the Thompson, of the media monorg group Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn, said: "Today, Ameri took a momento step forward the pursu of full equaly by fully repealg 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and openg s ary to every brave man and woman willg to serve, whether straight or gay. Litenant Daniel Choi is a former US officer and now rights mpaigner who was kicked out of the army for beg gay after servg Iraq said: "This is not a moment when I have been out chuggg beers. She said many gay veterans discharged unr DADT were often told – wrongly – that they were not eligible for full healthre benefs through the US partment of veterans' said that her anisatn would now put advocy on this issue at the foreont of s missn.

GAYS THE MILARY

It was illegal to be gay the UK ary until 2000 and Rishi Sunak has said sorry to those who were sacked or forced out. * are gays allowed in the military *

Ary the past , stris are still beg ma to improve acceptance, tegratn and health for gay and transgenr service members. Today, gay and transgenr ary service members enjoy far more rights than they did even five years ago—but the fight ntu to crease visibily and acceptance for this group the armed forc.

1988: The rults of a jot report nducted by the DoD and the Defense Personnel Secury Rearch Edutn Center rerce the fdgs of a 1957 report claimg that gay and lbian dividuals enlisted the armed forc pose no signifint risk to secury (which had prevly been the ratnale for barrg gay dividuals om enlistg the ary). 1993: Print Bill Clton signs the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, barrg openly gay and lbian Amerin cizens om ary service—while prohibg harassment of all “closeted” ary service members.

2015: Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announc that the Milary Equal Opportuny policy has been modified to clu gay and lbian service members. 2016: The Senate nfirms Eric Fanng as secretary of the Army, makg him the first openly gay secretary of a U.

DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL: HOW DO OTHER UNTRI TREAT GAY SOLDIERS?

Due to current Uned Stat ary regulatn, LGBT (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr) cizens have to keep their sexual orientatn a secret if they want to serve any branch of the armed forc.  In 1993, an attempt to stifle prott om the gay muny, Print Bill Clton iated the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy (DADT) wh the Uned Stat armed forc.  The policy dited that while homosexual cizens uld still serve the armed forc, they uld not do so if they announced their sexual orientatn. * are gays allowed in the military *

Half a after the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell, most lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr service members still felt reluctant to be open about their sexualy wh their lleagu and cha of mand, acrdg to a study released late study, published by the journal Sexualy Rearch and Social Policy, found that 59 percent of rponnts did not feel fortable beg out at work, eher bee of reer repercsns or bee of the burn of beg a token rponsible for tg their peers.

GAYS THE MILARY/LGBT LAW

”Dpe the orrs om above, many veterans publicly opposed the 2011 repeal of the ban on gay, lbian and bisexual service for troops who had grown up that environment, the policy’s mise did not flip a swch terms of fort level ― theirs or their lleagu. “The stctor was reported to e the pejorative term ‘fags’ durg class, disclose other people’s sexual mory inty to his stunts whout their permissn, and munite that he believed sexual mori were more promiscuo than heterosexuals, ” acrdg the the study, based on a rponse om a gay soldier. I am about to be put on a board for major and I do not want to not even have that opportuny to put myself where they n easily be like, ‘Get rid of this guy; if we have to cut 55 percent of the officers up for , he’s one of the easy on we n jt fd a reason to jt ver [ourselv], ' " said one rponnt, a gay Mare.

“I had a few iends there [ trag] that I got to know pretty well, but I knew a uple of them had some pretty strong relig backgrounds and I did not really feel like ttg the waters at that pot, ” one rponnt, a gay soldier, said.

I’m like well, the bt way to keep people om beg homophobic is to have them have someone that they know and rpect, who is gay, ” one sailor said. RELATEDAnd on Monday, the Supreme Court led that the employers nnot discrimate agast their homosexual or transgenr employe.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* ARE GAYS ALLOWED IN THE MILITARY

Don't ask, don't tell: How do other untri treat gay soldiers?.

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