LGBT and human rights advocacy groups reacted swiftly and favorably to today’s Department of Defense’s (DoD) decision to lift the ban on transgender people openly serving in the military. As the U.S.’s largest employer, the DOD’s decision today will allow the approximately 15, 000 transgender active and reserve service members (as well as countless veterans)…
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter today announced that transgender individuals will now be able to openly serve in the U.S. armed forces. The DoD policy announced today also establishes a construct by which service members may transition gender while serving, sets standards for medical care and outlines responsibilities for military services and commanders to develop…
The phone call began another very long day. It arrived approximately 10 seconds after you walked to your desk, the first of that kind of interruption, followed by dozens of urgent (to the sender) emails and six cubicle drop-bys. Alas, you didn’t get much done that day. Sometimes, you just want to be left alone…
(CNN) — For Gen. Martin Dempsey, Thursday’s move to open combat units in the U.S. military to women had its roots nearly a decade ago, on the streets of Baghdad. Dempsey took command of the Army’s 1st Armored Division in June 2003, when Iraqi insurgents were starting to target American troops with sniper fire, grenades…
It is that time of year where you get to participate in our political system by simply going to the polls and voting. Most groups in America had to fight for the right to vote, which makes it so troubling that so many refuse to exercise this hard won right. Unfortunately, the only group in…
For more than a decade, the U.S. Dept. of Defense’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy claimed the careers, livelihoods and in some cases, the lives of American servicemembers whose only crime was volunteering to serve our nation and being gay, bi or lesbian at the same time. The contention among repeal advocates was that…
David Koch, the billionaire industrialist who has donated millions of dollars to help elect Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney has stated that he disagrees with the Republican stance against same-sex marriage. Koch spoke to Politico during last week’s Republican National Conference, saying, “I believe in gay marriage.” When told Romney was against equal marriage, Koch…
ARLINGTON, Va. – Army Brigadier General Tammy Smith has become the first openly gay flag officer to come out while currently serving in the U.S. military. She was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in a private ceremony which took place Aug. 10 at the Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Brig. Gen. Smith…
