In 2013, The Department of Defense (DoD) designated June as an annual celebration of LGBT Pride.
“The Department of Defense and the Office of Diversity Management have added LGBT Pride Month as an annual observance to be celebrated by military and civilian members of the Armed Forces,” wrote the DoD in an article promulgated by the 633rd Air Base Wing Equal Opportunity Office. “During the month of June, all DoD personnel are encouraged to recognize the accomplishments of all members of its workforce and what this group of individuals has helped achieve by their service to the nation.”
DoD personnel include both military servicemembers and civilian employees.
“The Department of Defense joins the nation in celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Pride Month during the month of June. We recognize gay, lesbian and bisexual service members and LGBT civilians for their dedicated service to our country; the heroic contributions made by these Americans strengthen our national security,” wrote the director of the DoD’s Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity, Clarence A. Johnson, in a memorandum regarding this year’s annual Pride celebrations. “Whether officer, enlisted, civilian employee or family member, their inclusion gives our department greater promise and possibility. The LGBT community has written a proud chapter in this fundamentally American story by reminding us that integrity and respect remain corner stones of our military and civilian culture. During the month of June, let’s rededicate ourselves to equity, dignity and respect for all, and celebrate the diversity of the DoD workforce.”
The USS Carl Vinson’s (CVN-70’s) commanding officer (CO) apparently isn’t encouraging recognizing “the accomplishments of all members of its workforce.” When the ship’s CO, Capt. Kent “Torch” Whalen, verbally approved the Pride Month shipboard event, it was reported by San Diego’s Channel 10 News the servicemembers organizing the event were told “they had to remove any language of gay or lesbian over the loudspeaker” announcing the event, and that these same organizers expressed “frustrations by another condition: removing transgender from the posters.”
How does one fully acknowledge LGBT Pride Month on the USS Carl Vinson without any public mention over the ship’s PA that LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, and “what this group of individuals has helped achieve by their service to the nation”? And why must the word “transgender” be banished from an LGBT event?
Servicemembers, Partners, Allies For Respect And Tolerance For All (SPARTA), in a phone conversation with LGBT Weekly, pointed out that there are transgender servicemembers who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and transgender DoD civilian personnel who have served in these theaters.
Landon Wilson, an Afghanistan War veteran, is an example of a trans servicemember discharged because of DoD policy. DoD civilian employees, including Rachel Boyland and Nicole Shounder, have been deployed for the Afghanistan War.
“While transgender people serve in the military at a rate double the general population, they nonetheless face discrimination during and after service. Despite the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” wrote the Williams Institute published in the LGBTQ Public Policy Journal at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, “this study highlights the ongoing discrimination faced by transgender people who have served in the military. For example, nine percent of those who served reported that they were discharged on account of being transgender or gender non-conforming. While congressional legislation does not prohibit transgender people from military service, the military’s medical code lays out regulations that can prevent transgender people from joining the military or serving openly.”
The LGBT community’s servicemembers deserve better than the limitations Capt. Whalen has put on his ship’s company regarding the ship’s LGBT Pride Month celebrations. The ship’s CO may have the power to impose those limitations, but he certainly didn’t follow the spirit of “recogniz[ing] gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers and LGBT civilians for their dedicated service to our country; the heroic contributions made by these Americans strengthen our national security” that the DoD promulgated for Pride Month.
Great call on the COs part for standing up for what is right. Everyone in the DOD has contributed to this country. I recognize that some of them are LGBT, but we should celebrate their service and not their behavior.