The only mention of gay in Obama’s State of the Union Address was listing us as part of a categories of people who could serve in uniform & a reference to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal. “When you put on that uniform, it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white; Asian or Latino; conservative or liberal; rich or poor; gay or straight,” Obama stated. John Aravosis, who’s gay & editor of AMERICAblog, thought as we did that Obama could have gone further in his speech to address LGBT issues stating, “I didn’t really expect him to come out for marriage equality or even announce his support for an executive order on ENDA. But at the very least he could have, should have, mentioned ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ & recognized the 2 lesbians invited to sit with the first lady. It was far more understated than I think it should have been”. The lesbians that Aravosis referenced were guests of Michelle Obama that attended the speech in the first lady’s box. One of the guests was Air Force Col. Ginger Wallace, who’s currently training to deploy to Afghanistan in the spring through the Afghanistan Pakistan Hands program & her partner Kathy Knopf participated in Wallace’s “pinning-on” promotion ceremony in December. The other was Lorelei Kilker, a 31-year-old analytical chemist from Brighton, Colo., was among a class of women benefiting from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s investigation of alleged sex discrimination at her former employer, the Western Sugar Cooperative. Obama made no mention of them in his address.
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2 comments:
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network was pleased to hear President Obama acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices of our service members, including gay and lesbian Americans who wear our nation's uniform. The repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' would not have been possible without his vision and determination. And at SLDN, we are encouraged by his announcement of a new initiative to hire veterans, who are coming home to a very difficult job market.
Aubrey Sarvis Executive Director, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
President Obama (and SLDN) certainly deserve the credit for repeal of DADT. However, equality still eludes our gay heroes in uniform. Thanks to DOMA legally married same-sex military spouses are denied health insurance, commissary, housing allowance and other base privileges as compared to their opposite-sex married counterparts. For those interested - http://OUTmilitary.com has been providing a supportive environment for friending, sharing and networking between Gay active military, vets and supporters since December, 2010.
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