The Pentagon Recognizes Transgender Veterans

The Pentagon are recognizing Transgender vets. This is huge and a big step for equality I think, but we have a long way to go.

Buzzfeed has the scoop:

In a short letter dated May 2, a Navy official told Autumn Sandeen, a veteran and transgender activist: “Per your request the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) has been updated to show your gender as female effective April 12, 2013.”

Sandeen’s military identification card now reflects the change, a move called “quite significant” by the head of OutServe-SLDN, a national organization for LGBT service members and veterans and their families.

“The fact that a process exists [to change the gender listed] indicates that there are people in the Department of Defense who are aware of the needs of transgender retirees and who are working to see those needs met. And, in that sense, the significance of this symbolic act for our broader work and for our goal of open service becomes I think a little bit more apparent,” OutServe-SLDN executive director Allyson Robinson told BuzzFeed.

Again, a huge step in the right direction.

WATCH The Pentagon celebrate Gay Pride for the First Time

Pentagon to Honor Gay Troops

Continuing on with Pride month, the Pentagon will finally recognize their gay troops.

From Politico:

Officials said Thursday that they're planning the first-ever event to recognize gay and lesbian troops. They declined to give details about what the event will be, but officials said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta feels it's important to recognize the service of gays in the armed forces.

June is gay pride month in the U.S. This is the first time the Pentagon could participate, since September's repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." Under the 1993 law, troops were kicked out for talking about their sexual orientation and more than 13,000 lost their jobs.

source

READ the Pentagon's DADT Repeal Plan

The Pentagon releases their plan to repeal DADT.

The Washington Blade reports...

In a redacted memorandum dated Feb. 10, Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness Clifford Stanley provides the military service secretaries with the repeal plan and pledges to work with them to “solidify the format of progress updates as well as the frequency of leadership meets.”


The four-page memo states that the secretaries have until March 1 to provide their first progress update to Stanley.


Last month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates tasked Stanley with devising a plan by Feb. 4 to “facilitate the timely and orderly realization” of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal.


The plan breaks down the path for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal into four stages: pre-repeal, certification, implementation and sustainment.


In the pre-repeal phase, activities include Tier 1 and Tier 2 level training of military leadership and reporting to Obama administration officials on the progress of implementation. For example, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness must have a monthly meeting and report to the defense secretary and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the status of repeal.


To reach the certification phase, the Repeal Implementation Team must provide appropriate documentation to the defense secretary and chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and provide their recommendation to the president.

Here's the document
Pentagon's Plan to Repeal DADT

The Pentagon will set up "Temporary" guidelines for Gays in the Military

The Pentagon will be creating a new set of temporary rules for DADT.

Defense Department spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Thursday that he expects the guidelines be announced later in the day.


An injunction last week barring the military from following the "don't ask, don't tell" law prompted the Pentagon to order that recruiters must accept applications from gays, and military lawyers must stop prosecuting cases aimed at firing them.


But a Wednesday ruling froze that injunction. That means the military could at least temporarily return to its policy banning gays and lesbians from serving openly, while the courts continue to consider the question.

For the Record: No Segregation of Gay Troops

What is it with Gay bloggers f**king up info or rewriting stuff like Texas Board of Education? It's a hot ass mess, for realz.

The latest drama comes from you know who... John Aravosis.

Yesterday he posted this:

The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that it is considering segregating gay troops, specifically with regards to creating separate showers and/or barracks for straight and gay troops. Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld just transcribed the following quote from Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell at Friday's briefing about the new "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" survey:

"We think it would be irresponsible to conduct a survey that didn’t try to address these types of things. Because when DADT is repealed, we will have to determine if there are any challenges in those particular areas, any adjustments that need to be made in terms of how we educate the force to handle those situations, or perhaps even facility adjustments that need to be made to deal with those scenarios."

Segregation, folks. Separate but equal. In the year 2010. And from a black president, no less. How do you feel about the segregation of blacks in the first half of the 1900s? Did you think it was disgusting that African-Americans weren't permitted to drink out of our fountains, swim in our pools, sit at the front of the bus, share the same bleachers at a game, as the rest of us? Then why is it okay to even talk about segregating gays and lesbians? What would have happened to an Obama administration spokesman who talked about segregating blacks?

He goes on and on, but pretty much he ran this info as fact. Now, most folks who knows John's style should know to triple check his info, because it could be inflated or overhyped.

Well, some folks didn't and once again, took this for fact and posted this mess on their blogs.

Later, Chris Geidner got the truth and put it out there:

By time John Aravosis got a hold of it this morning, here's how Megan's carefully couched claim -- that, from my review of my recording still overstates what Morrell said, which was that "facility adjustments" were a hypothetical possibility -- had been twisted:

Does the White House not understand that a black president cannot institute a policy of segregation? Apparently they don't.

The Pentagon confirmed on Friday that it is considering segregating gay troops, specifically with regards to creating separate showers and/or barracks for straight and gay troops.

Of course, that wasn't what Morrell said -- and it wasn't even what Carpentier wrote. But, it's what Aravosis told the LGBT community and his readers today.

The segregation portion of Morrell's interview with Think Progress blogger Igor Volsky:

MORRELL: So, when I was asked, about the, you know – this is in the context of “why are you even asking these questions?” – well, we’re asking these questions because in our engagements with the force thus far, this has been an area of some concern. Now we need to test it to see if that holds for—if it really reflects the concerns of the force, and which members of the force. Is it older members? Is it younger members? Are they, you know—which ones? And, and then along with this information, the working group will make some recommendations about how to deal with those concerns. It could be, as I said, who knows? This could be dealt with through education programs, through training programs, or it may require “facilities adjustments.” But no one, no one is considering “separate but equal” bathing or living facilities for you know, gay and straight troops. That’s just not ever a consideration.

Q: So that’s off the table.

MORRELL: Absolutely off the table.

I don't get people sometimes. The truth was out there and folks just ran their own story. I need to know if they think about the impact this foolishness. Because of John's crappy post, I saw too many racist comments and I tell you, I wasn't Gay and proud at all when I read them.

It's really sad to see.