Milary veterans kicked out for beg gay still fightg for honorable discharg - WTOP News

Contents:

• GAY, BISEXUAL TROOPS MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER SEXUAL ASSLTS, STUDY SUGGTS
• ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
• LEADG ADVOCY GROUP FOR GAY RIGHTS THE US MILARY SHUTTG DOWN
• RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
• MILARY VETERANS KICKED OUT FOR BEG GAY STILL FIGHTG FOR HONORABLE DISCHARG

GAY, BISEXUAL TROOPS MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER SEXUAL ASSLTS, STUDY SUGGTS

Ary due to their sexual orientatn, cludg an timated 14, 000 service members who were discharged unr "don't ask, don't tell, " durg the 17 years that was effect, acrdg to the rights activists and gay veterans, cludg former Army Litenant Dan Choi (4th L) and former Mare Corporal Evelyn Thomas (5th L), handcuff themselv to the fence of the Whe Hoe durg a prott Nov. Members of the Gay Veterans Associatn march past the Whe Hoe and down Pennsylvania Ave onto the Natnal Mall Washgton, D.

"Given that large numbers of LGBTQ+ Veterans who were affected by prev homophobic and transphobic polici have not applied for a discharge upgra due to the perceptn that the procs uld be onero, we are hopeful that this policy statement enurag more of them to ntact VA to terme their eligibily for re and servic, " acrdg to a VA statement. The print directed that an executive orr reversg the ban on homosexuals the ary be prepared by July Edmonds/AP, FILE"Don't ask, don't tell, " was signed to law 1993 unr the admistratn of Print Bill Clton, who ially sought to end a World War II-era ban on homosexuals servg the backlash om some ary lears and members of Congrs, Clton managed to get support for an apparent promise, which would allow LGBTQ dividuals to serve the ary if they did not disclose their sexual his first term office, Print Barack Obama voiced his support for repealg the law. ”A earlier, the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” allowed gays and lbians to serve openly after centuri of hidg, persecutn and dishonorable, we salute some of the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer service members who paved the way for a more clive force.

Friedrich von Stben joed the Pssian army as a teen, eventually beg an ai--mp to Frerick the Great, who was also mored to be gay. But In 1763, at 33, Stben was unceremonly discharged “unr a cloud, hound by accatns of havg relatns wh young men, ” acrdg to The Gay and Lbian Review. C., and the Stben Para, held each September down New York’s Fifth KamenyFrank Kameny Kennedy / Tribune News Service via Getty ImagOne of the Foundg Fathers of the morn gay rights movement, Frank Kameny enlisted the Army 1943, servg Europe throughout World War II.

ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS

After the war, he earned a doctorate at Harvard Universy and tght astronomy at Geetown Universy, In 1957, Kameny had jt started workg for the Army Map Service, wh hop of beg an astront, when he was termated after vtigators unvered evince he was a, then 32, appealed the firg, argug that flatly labelg gay people a secury risk was “no ls od than discrimatn based upon relig or racial grounds.

The jtic refed to hear the appeal, but marked the first time the high urt even nsired a civil rights se based on sexual orientatn — and galvanized Kameny to beg a lifelong activist for equaly for gays and years later, 1965, Kameny, Kay Tob and Barbara Gtgs started the Annual Remrs, the first anized picket protts for gay rights Ameri, held at Philalphia’s Inpennce Hall.

In the 1970s, Kameny bee the first openly gay ndidate for Congrs and challenged the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn’s diagnosis of homosexualy as a mental disorr, acrdg to a 2015 Department of Labor 2009, the U.

LEADG ADVOCY GROUP FOR GAY RIGHTS THE US MILARY SHUTTG DOWN

Wh urage and strength, you fought back, ” said OPM Director John Berry, himself an out gay man, the Washgton Post December 2010, Kameny was ved to the Whe Hoe to wns Print Barack Obama sign the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” to law. ”Fannie Mae Clackum Though ls well known than Kameny, Clackum beme the first service member to succsfully challenge a ary discharge on the grounds of homosexualy.

”While the lg Clackum’s favor turned on due procs, rather than a rejectn of the ban on gays the ary, was the first time the Armed Forc had to answer for attacks on LGBTQ service MilkHarvey Milk outsi his mera shop San Francis 1977.

Bettmann ArchiveThough Harvey Milk is better known for his stnch gay activism, polil reer and tragic assassatn, he enlisted the U. That ugly dismissal cut Milk loose to pursue other terts — he tght high school on Long Island, worked at an surance firm and Wall Street brokerage New York Cy and ultimately opened a mera shop on Castro Street San Francis, where his activist reer began was one of the first openly gay elected officials the U. A surge of state legislatn related to the LGBTQ muny has passed this year, aimed primarily at regulatg curriculum public schools — such as Florida’s bill that opponents labeled “Don’t Say Gay” — and rtrictg genr-affirmg health re for transgenr youth.

RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN

Gay, lbian and bisexual service members may be signifintly more likely to suffer sexual asslts the ary than heterosexual troops, a new Rand Corp. Rand said about 43% of all ary sexual asslts over the prr year were mted agast troops who are gay, lbian and bisexual, or who otherwise did not dite they are heterosexual, although they make up about 12% of the active-duty force, acrdg to a 2018 Defense Department survey. The difference between sexual asslt rat for gay or bisexual men, as opposed to heterosexual men, was even more stark, Rand said.

The data llected the Pentagon's 2018 Workplace and Genr Relatns Survey of Active Duty Members suggts that there may be about 43, 000 gay or bisexual men and about 29, 000 lbian or bisexual women the active-duty ary, out of nearly 1. Wh so many gay, lbian or bisexual troops uniform, and such a disproportnate percentage of that populatn experiencg sexual asslts, Rand said the data suggts that "a nsirable actn" of sexual asslts are likely beg mted agast LGB service members.

To try to prevent asslts on gay, lbian and bisexual troops, Rand said the ary needs to do more to unrstand where they are occurrg and what is motivatg the attackers. 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.

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

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.

“People mt fd fort and ph back some of that ternalized homophobia, and build a b on the journey between hont and thentic.