Washington - Now it can be told: A prominent gay rights advocate who called himself J. D. Smith is in fact 1st Lt. Josh Seefried, a 25-year-old active-duty Air Force officer. At 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, he dropped the pseudonym, freed from keeping his sexual orientation secret like an estimated tens of thousands of others in the United States military.
“I always had the feeling that I was lying to them and that I couldn’t be part of the military family,” said Lieutenant Seefried, who helped found an undercover group of 4,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender active-duty service members. “I feel like I can get to know my people again. When I go to a Christmas party, I can actually bring the person I’m in a relationship with. And that’s a huge relief.”
The 18-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy officially ended at midnight and with it the discharges that removed more than 13,000 men and women from the military under the old ban on openly gay troops. To mark the historic change, gay rights groups are planning celebrations across the country while Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will usher in the new era at a Pentagon news conference.
The other side will be heard, too: Elaine Donnelly, a longtime opponent of allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces, has already said that “as of Tuesday the commander in chief will own the San Francisco military he has created.” Two top Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee — the chairman, Representative Howard P. McKeon of California, and Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina — have asked the Pentagon to delay the new policy, saying commanders in the field are not ready. But the Pentagon has moved on.
No one knows how many gay members of the military will come out on Tuesday, although neither gay rights advocates nor Pentagon officials are expecting big numbers, at least not initially.
“The key point is that it no longer matters,” said Doug Wilson, a top Pentagon spokesman. “Our feeling is that the day will proceed like any other day.”
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7 comments:
Wow. I read a survey earlier that indicated some thought this new approach to gays in the military would have either no affect or a positive one on our armed forces. I can only assume those people have never served and don't know what military life, particularly at the lower ranks and in the combat specialties, is like. The affects will most definitely (at least over the short term) be negative. I served for 20 years (admittedly a LONG time ago) and served with people who were gay. They served as other soldiers, they did their jobs and were no more or no less troublesome than "straight" soldiers. Most of my service, though, was not in "line" or combat units where there is a different attitude, perhaps a different level of tolerence, a more gung-ho, macho mindset. I served only twice in units (both in Korea) that I feel demonstrated this particular "feel." The first was an infantry battalion, the second a combat aviation battalion. Most of the soldiers in these units had to live in a barracks with shared living areas, shared bathrooms, to include open bays and open showers and anyone who had a room shared it with at least one other person. I suspect that problems will develop especially where these types of accomodations exist and where most soldiers don't have the luxury of "going home" at night to their own place. Even if there is no mass exodus from the military, there will be some who will leave and some who will choose not to serve because of this new policy. (Better off without them you say? Maybe. But I'm sure many a "homophobe" has served well, bravely & honorably, as well as many gays and lesbians have). You can also be sure that unit cohesion & camaraderie will suffer, because (at least for now) few will want to risk "guilt by association" that will be inherent in befriending an openly gay fellow servicemember. It is true that no one is likely to care about the sexual orientation (as most of us no longer care about the race) of the guy or gal next to them in the foxhole when the bullets are flying, but most of the time they're not. ...and when they're not, people tend to behave as they've always behaved. The transition will take a long time and in that time there will be problems, of this you can be certain. As with any large organization, change comes slowly and painfully, but, inexorably, it comes.
Nothing will change and all the propaganda against this will be proven wrong. Which is really their biggest fear.
England has done this for eleven years and it has worked out so well that they now actively recruit in the gay community.
It's not like they are going to be running down the squadbays, blaring elton john and the village people. We are not going to switch our uniforms to bright pink, and purple. It's going to be business as usual. The only difference is that certain members can now be more comfortable and dont have to hide who they are. They can now excercise the SAME FREEDOMS as everyone else. If they cross the line they will recieve the SAME PUNISHMENTS as everyone else. I dont know why people have to make such a big deal out of this. It comes down to one thing... America was founded by the pursuit of FREEDOM for all... however somewhere along the way that goal got lost. It became freedom for those in charge. That is exactly what our FOUNDING FATHERS did not want. Your rights and freedoms only extend so far as they begin to creep up on someone elses. Your freedom of speech only applies until your comments interfere with someone else right to their freedoms. Your freedom of religion is yours. Your religious and personal views have no place in law. Please leave your Jesus, Allah, or Jehova where they belong, in your heart, and the church. They have no business in the policy of this government. If you dont like that, then maybe you need to re-ready the constitution of the United States. The strongest opposition to Gay Marriage has been religious reasoning... how can this be? There should BY LAW ( That thing we call the constitution) be no influence of religious opinion on matters such as this. But then again, we are the United States of Hipocracy... Am I saying I agree with Gay Marriage? Not neccesarily. However, I do feel that as an American, it is my responsibility to other AMERICANS to ensure they are free to excercise their rights and freedoms, as provided to them under the governing doctrine of our Country...
This is one reason ROME fell.
Read your history gay guy!
Dont have to hide who they are?
You mean don't have to hide what they do. Right?
I mean, how many people have ever indicated they are gay and celibate? Think about it.
Gay is a behavior. It is what you do.
>>>When I go to a Christmas party, I can actually bring the person I’m in a relationship with. And that’s a huge relief.<<<
WTF? An Air Force officer made this statement? That's just pathetic.
LOL ROME?
maybe get a refresher on your Greek History
they precede Rome if you need to reference
people have such great grasp on the actualities of human history including that of their own nation
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