Pentagon surveys troops on DADT (again)

[BrianR]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Since I hope and believe the repeal of DADT will be lead
to changing hearts and minds in both the military and civilian life,
I'm starting to wonder which minority group will be the next
to become the targets of the bigots.

Short answer...transsexuals.

[Lamplighter]

Yes Brian, I know what you mean.

But for the military, and military justice system in particular, the repeal of DADT should help there too because the repeal takes away the legs that the bigots stand on.

For civilian life, not so much... yet

[Lamplighter]

NPR has a report on what the military is currently doing in regards to
training operations as required by the repeal of DADT.
Sec Gates wants the training completed by the end of the year,
and others in command feel it may even be completed by Spring.
Once training is complete, the President and the Sec of Defense must certify that the military can operate with gay/lesbian serving opening.

Here is a 4 min audio of the NPR report.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

... must certify that the military can operate with gay/lesbian serving opening.

I think you meant "serving openly".

Or maybe you didn't...

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

I think you meant "serving openly".

Or maybe you didn't...

Yes, openly.
Thank you.

Tis amazing how my fingers type words my brain didn't think about.

[Lamplighter]

The military may be playing this cool,
but I predict this will be a major turning point
for the entire country....on a par with other Civil Rights laws.

Thank you, OBAMA !

On eve of DADT repeal, it's business as usual for military
By LEO SHANE III
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 19, 2011

WASHINGTON — The military’s controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” law ends Tuesday,
allowing openly gay troops to serve for the first time and marking
one of the most dramatic personnel changes in U.S. military history.
But despite the significance, defense officials have spent weeks downplaying
the actual impact of the change, insisting that for gay and straight troops
the repeal will still mean business as usual.

Pentagon leaders and the White House on Tuesday will acknowledge the end of the 18-year-old law
— the basis for the dismissal of roughly 14,000 gay service members
— and last year’s contentious debate repealing it.

But, other than a few news conferences, no formal military events or instructions are planned.
Troops have been attending training briefings on the rule changes since last spring,
and no new sessions or advisories are expected after repeal.

<snip>

[classicman]

but I predict this will be a major turning point
for the entire country....on a par with other Civil Rights laws.

I appreciate your passion, its the right thing and long overdue, but I think it pales when compared to Civil Rights Laws.

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by classicman

I appreciate your passion, its the right thing and long overdue, but I think it pales when compared to Civil Rights Laws.

... which came about from Truman's courage to change the military,
ultimately leading to the repeal of de jure segregation.


As a landlord, as an employer, and as a citizen,
I'm aware of laws that are so unfair they will be repealed,
just as has happened today with DADT.

There will always be bigots among us, but they won't have the Law to shield them.
Society will gradually weed them out and the discriminatory laws will be repealed.

For example, I think it is no coincidence this is being published, today (9/19/11):

HUD PROPOSES NEW RULE TO ENSURE EQUAL ACCESS TO HOUSING
REGARDLESS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR GENDER IDENTITY)

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today
proposed new regulations intended to ensure that its core housing programs are open
to all eligible persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
View the proposed rule announced today.

“This is a fundamental issue of fairness,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.
“We have a responsibility to make certain that public programs are open to all Americans.
With this proposed rule, we will make clear that a person’s eligibility for federal housing programs is,
and should be, based on their need and not on their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

It just takes time and a bit of leadership to take that "first step"...

[Lamplighter]

We need to be witness to progress...

By Corinne Reilly
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 21, 2011

VIRGINIA BEACH

It’s a time-honored tradition at Navy homecomings – one lucky sailor is chosen
to be first off the ship for the long-awaited kiss with a loved one.

Today, for the first time, the happily reunited couple was gay.

The dock landing ship Oak Hill has been gone for nearly three months,
training with military allies in Central America.
As the homecoming drew near, the crew and ship’s family readiness group
sold $1 raffle tickets for the first kiss. Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, 23,
bought 50 - which is actually fewer than many people buy,
she said, so she was surprised Monday to find out she'd won.
Her girlfriend of two years, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell, 22, was waiting when she crossed the brow

They kissed. The crowd cheered. And with that, another vestige of the policy
that forced gays to serve in secrecy vanished.
"It's something new, that's for sure," Gaeta told reporters after the kiss.
"It's nice to be able to be myself. It's been a long time coming.

[Clodfobble]

Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, 23... Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell, 22

Wouldn't this come under a different no-no heading of dating a superior officer? I mean, setting aside for a moment the grotesque offense of naming your daughter Citlalic...

[classicman]

Clitawhat?

[ZenGum]

Citlalic ... wtf? ... is an anagram of lic a clit. Just saying.

[glatt]

Women kissing and there's no picture? Do I have to do everything around here?

[Lamplighter]

Sec Leon Panetta followed up today with yet another step towards equal treatment in the military.

The full memo is available through the link to this article...

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
By Joseph Straw /
Monday, February 11, 2013, 7:42 PM

New benefits for soldiers' same sex partners: Pentagon

The order provides perks like subsidized base shopping and dining
but also includes key family benefits like child care and leave when
a partner is ill or dies.

WASHINGTON — Soldiers’ same-sex partners will gain benefits ranging
from use of the PX to emergency leave under a Pentagon order issued Monday.

The government is set to offer full coverage should the Supreme Court allow it.

The order provides perks like subsidized base shopping and dining
but also includes key family benefits like child care and leave when a partner is ill or dies.

In a memo, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he went as far as he could
under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which bars Uncle Sam from honoring gay marriage.
The high court is considering DOMA’s legality.

Here is just one paragraph from his memo today:

[Lamplighter]

When Obama ended DADT in the military, it set off a flood of changes
in the de jure and de facto discriminations against sexual orientation.

But such discrimination in jobs continues to be legal in small and large US companies.

The time has come to legally prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation.


NY Times
JAMES B. STEWART
5/25/13

Exxon Defies Calls to Add Gays to Anti-Bias Policy

For millions of gay and lesbian employees, much has changed since 1999,
when no states recognized gay marriage, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” effectively barred people
who were openly gay from serving in the military, Matthew Shepard’s murderer was convicted
— and Exxon Mobil shareholders were first asked to protect gay and lesbian employees from discrimination.

One thing hasn’t: Exxon Mobil’s implacable opposition to adding sexual orientation
to its official equal employment opportunity statement.

The proposal, backed this year, as it has been since 2010, by New York State Comptroller
Thomas P. DiNapoli on behalf of the New York State Employees Retirement System,
has never gained majority support.
That’s not unusual for so-called social, political and environmental shareholder initiatives,
since most institutional money managers usually decline as a matter of policy
to vote against management recommendations on such issues.
Still, the measure has gained as much as 38 percent of the vote,
considered resounding support by the feeble standards of shareholder democracy.
<snip>
Twenty-one states, the District of Columbia and more than 160 cities and counties
have laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
But Exxon Mobil maintains it isn’t bound by these because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act,
which pre-empts state law.
A constitutional challenge to DOMA is awaiting a decision by the Supreme Court,
and two federal appeals courts have ruled DOMA unconstitutional.