Salute is orr for new gay general - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
• TAMMY SMH: FIRST OPENLY GAY U.S. GENERAL
• US ARMY GENERAL COM OUT AS GAY, INTRODUC HIS ‘HBAND’ AT PENTAGON GAY PRI EVENT
• AN ARMY GENERAL OPENS UP ABOUT BEG GAY DURG DADT
• SMH BE FIRST GAY GENERAL OFFICER TO SERVE OPENLY
• WOMAN BE FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL
• THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY
• MEET BRIG. GEN. TAMMY SMH, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY U.S. GENERAL
• I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
• SALUTE IS ORR FOR NEW GAY GENERAL
• ARMY’S 1ST OPENLY GAY GENERAL CELEBRAT ADVANC DURG PRI OBSERVANCE S. KOREA
• HISTORY’S GREATT GAY GENERAL

ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS

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.

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. “When I me durg the 80s, thgs were different for women and gay people, and now 2021, the societal l are different aga.

TAMMY SMH: FIRST OPENLY GAY U.S. GENERAL

“People mt fd fort and ph back some of that ternalized homophobia, and build a b on the journey between hont and thentic. Smh is now the first openly gay general the Uned Stat jos om the Pentagon jt a moment. If you are a gay or lbian member of the ary and have e out sce the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell, " please give a ll and tell your story at 800-989-8255.

US ARMY GENERAL COM OUT AS GAY, INTRODUC HIS ‘HBAND’ AT PENTAGON GAY PRI EVENT

She is the first openly gay general the Uned Stat ary.

And I also read that, you know, before you were able to be openly gay the ary that, you know, a lot of thgs had to - everythg you did or thought about had to sort of be planned, a way. You - as a gay woman, you uldn't.

AN ARMY GENERAL OPENS UP ABOUT BEG GAY DURG DADT

SMITH: Well - and you characterized that as a gay woman, but I would have to say more jt as a woman the ary, that are there the Hmm. But I do know that the Mare Corps do not honor gay marriag.

Well, I wanted to ask you, you are - I know that you shy away om this, but you have to know that you are a role mol as a woman, as you said, and also, aga, as a gay woman.

SMH BE FIRST GAY GENERAL OFFICER TO SERVE OPENLY

So there will be some folks who will look up to me for beg gay - and not so much bee I'm gay, bee that's not really signifint, so much as that I upheld my personal tegry a way that is fortable for me. Go No - well, first, general, I am ecstatic that you are a general, and you beg gay has nothg to do wh you beg general. And she was reced to Naval Intelligence and live a closeted life, fact, married a gay man when she was telligence so they uld mata their ver.

Did the fay know that she was gay, but she never uld tell the ary that? Yeah, she knew she was gay when she was eight years old. Brigadier General Tammy Smh joed om the Pentagon - as of Friday, our natn's first openly gay general.

US Army General Randy Taylor has now e out of the foot locker and announced he is gay. Not only that but at a Pentagon-sponsored gay pri event he also troduced his “hband” to the world.

WOMAN BE FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL

The event kicked off wh a song om a gay choir, so we have that gog for , which is nice. Taylor, whose 27 years of service spanned an outright ban on gays, then “don’t ask, don’t tell” and fally, the ban’s liftg 2011.

Taylor was the master of ceremoni for the Pentagon’s 4th Gay Pri celebratn that shows a month of gay-themed posters and history. I don’t want to celebrate gays the ary.

Their beg gay do not make them notable. As the first general officer to e out as gay while still servg, Smh has led the charge for equaly, diversy, and tegry the ary. And while genr equaly the ary has e a long way sce she first missned, thgs have not always been easy for servicewomen, nor has been possible to be an openly gay service member.

THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY

20, 2011, the Defense Department repealed s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gays servg the ary. “Like thoands of gay and lbian service members, I chose to set asi who I was for the privilege to serve our armed forc.

MEET BRIG. GEN. TAMMY SMH, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY U.S. GENERAL

The policy that was place prr to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” entirely banned gays om jog the ary, said Smh, addg that ma them feel like unsirable, lser people. “How I mataed my tegry is that I didn’t let that view, of what gay people were, take my digny, ” she said. If I chose to hi, what was I signalg as a lear to the rt of the members of the armed servic who were gay and lbian?

Wh homosexuals now ee to serve openly the U. Ary didn’t take long for a gay officer to climb to the top of the missned ranks. Star and Strip, the Defense Department’s semi-official newspaper, proudly reported that the Army has promoted s first homosexual officer to general stat.

The paper add that the ceremony Augt 10, at which Smh was officially promoted, “marks an important tone for gay rights advot, givg the movement s most senr public ary figure.

I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK

” Acrdg to the New York Tim, Smh, a 26-year Army veteran, married homosexual activist Tracey Hepner March 2011, after they had dated for ne years. The Tim reported that Hepner is the founr of an anizatn lled Milary Partners and Fai Coaln, which, s webse explas, exists to provi “support, rourc, tn, and advocy for lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr ary partners and their fai.

SALUTE IS ORR FOR NEW GAY GENERAL

Stars and Strip poted out that Smh has attempted to downplay her notoriety as the first openly homosexual general the U. The irony of that ment is that, up until the dismantlg of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) 2011, homosexual behavr had been nsired a vlatn of the valu of Ameri’s fightg force sce the natn’s foundg.

But the Defense Department has somehow turned homosexualy to a liftyle worthy of celebratn among pockets of the ary. For example, as reported by The New Amerin, June Defense Secretary Leon Pata released a vio thankg homosexual ary personnel for their service to the natn — both durg and sce the repeal of DADT.

ARMY’S 1ST OPENLY GAY GENERAL CELEBRAT ADVANC DURG PRI OBSERVANCE S. KOREA

“As we regnize pri month, I want to personally thank all of our gay and lbian service members, LGBT civilians and their fai for their dited service to our untry, ” Pata said.

In July, as reported by The New Amerin, Pata followed up that ngratulatns by allowg ary personnel to march uniform a San Diego “gay pri para, ” an act that is banned by ary regulatns.

HISTORY’S GREATT GAY GENERAL

), a member of the Senate Armed Servic Commtee, fired off a letter to Pata askg him why he offered a waiver of that prohibn to homosexual personnel, while at the same time allowg a Navy chapla to be punished for wearg his uniform to a pro-life event, or a Mare for attendg a Ron Pl mpaign event his uniform. “If the Navy n punish a chapla for participatg a pro-life event or a Mare for participatg a polil rally, stands to reason that the Defense Department should mata the same standard and preclu service members uniform om marchg a gay pri para, ” Inhofe challenged Pata. In a separate statement, Inhofe exprsed his ncern that the Obama admistratn “ntu to force s liberal social agenda on the ary by promotg the homosexual agenda, mandatg the e of high-st green energy iativ, pursug abortn rights, and supprsg the ee exercise of relig liberti.

” By ntrast, said Ray, “there is a two month history of open homosexual polil activy the ary, and senr Pentagon officials are llg this grand social experiment ‘participatg wh fay tradnal ceremoni. Wh her promotn to brigadier general on Friday, Tammy Smh, right, acknowledged publicly for the first time that she is gay.