LGBTQ news and entertainment
The U.S. Air Force has suddenly reversed on previously approved early retirements for transgender service members with 15 to 18 years of service.
The reversal voids retirement dates granted under the Temporary Early Retirement Authority, leaving affected service members facing involuntary separation which includes the loss of lifetime benefits. Continue reading “Air Force Reverses On Early Retirement For Transgender Service Members”
Some news stories you might have missed: • Florida Politics: After a new poll by Civiqs found 50% of Florida voters oppose a new ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Florida universities, Cedar Key Progress, a liberal political committee, has sponsored six “We Say Gay” billboards up around the state through Pride Month. Continue reading ““We Say Gay” Billboards In Florida + More News”
North Korea has suspended talks with South Korea and declared that next month’s summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump could be cancelled over upcoming joint Air Force drills taking place in South Korea with the U.S. Air Force.
North Korea has always expressed displeasure at the annual joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises. But apparently, with the U.S. summit so close on the calendar, North Korea must have had different expectations this year.
From The Washington Post:
The South Korean and U.S. militaries had scaled back and played down the exercises, declining the news media the usual access to the drills. North Korea barely said a word about the drills during the computer simulation exercises that took place through April.
The two-week-long Max Thunder drills between the two countries’ Air Forces, an annual event that began on Friday, have, however, clearly struck a nerve in North Korea.
“This exercise targeting us, which is being carried out across South Korea, is a flagrant challenge to the Panmunjom Declaration and an intentional military provocation running counter to the positive political development on the Korean Peninsula,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency said in a report published early.
The Max Thunder exercise involves about 100 warplanes, including eight F-22 radar-evading fighters and an unspecified number of B-52 bombers and F-15K jets, according to the South’s main Yonhap News Agency. During last year’s Max Thunder exercises, U.S. and South Korean fighter jets flew an average 60 sorties a day to showcase their firepower.
JUST IN: The White House was caught off guard by the warning from North Korea about military drills, according to aides https://t.co/6mp4jMAca6 pic.twitter.com/PTSkxfudhN— CNN (@CNN) May 15, 2018
BREAKING: North Korea backs out of high level talks with South Korea due their joint military drills with the US.
They also threw the Trump-Kim summit into doubt.
Trump is about to be humiliated by Kim Jung Un and the North Koreans on the world stage. Sad!!!— Travis Allen 🌊 (@TravisAllen02) May 15, 2018
Are we surprised that North Korea is acting like North Korea?— Travis J. Tritten (@Travis_Tritten) May 15, 2018
Confirmed by the Senate in April as the undersecretary of the Air Force, Eric Fanning became the civilian head of the Air Force on yesterday when his boss, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, retired.
Fanning, who is openly gay, is the highest-ranking out LGBT person in the Defense Department.
President Obama is yet to nominate Donley’s replacement, so Fanning should be serving in the dual roles for a while.
Read more at Buzzfeed.
Air Force Major General Patricia Rose is now the highest ranking openly gay officer in the military after she was promoted May 31.
From OutServe-SLDN:
Rose’s promotion ceremony was held on May 31, led by her direct supervisor, General Janet Wolfenbarger, the first female four-star general in the United States Air Force. With a small crowd in attendance, Rose’s wife pinned her second star.
Rose is the Mobilization Assistant to the Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. A logistician, she’s served assignments in both aircraft maintenance and transportation in seven different commands. Her reserve assignments include command of the 36th Aerial Port Squadron at McChord AFB, Washington, where her squadron won the dual distinction of being selected for an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and Air Mobility Command’s Total Force Air Reserve Component Aerial Port Unit of the Year.
Rose and Roth were legally married in their home state of Washington after marriage equality became legal in the state last year. When Rose earned her first star, she asked her friend and neighbor, Colonel Grethe Cammermeyer, to pin it in a private promotion ceremony. Cammermeyer, a fellow Washingtonian, was ejected from the Washington National Guard for admitting she was gay and became a prominent advocate for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Her story was told in the film “Serving in Silence.”
In her civilian capacity, Rose is the public relations and marketing director for a local hospital.
(source)
This video was made by “Six Star Productions” for the upcoming Army game by Air Force cadets.
Deemed by wing staff as “too inappropriate to play for the cadet wing.”