Tag: LGBT service members

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Photo of military proposal goes viral with 2 million views

According to Buzzfeed, this pic of Lt. Kyle Bandermann proposing to Lance Buchanan has received over 2 million views in the past two days since it was posted on Facebook.

Buzzfeed has more of the story behind the proposal and why he chose to wear his uniform for the big moment:

First, anyone who knows my work knows that I love my fellow service members, the camaraderie of the military community, and specifically the culture, pride, and professionalism of the U.S. Navy. It has become a part of my identity and I am grateful to call the Navy home. I am myself, both in uniform and civilian clothes. However, I realize that being a Naval Officer calls me to something much bigger than myself, and provides me a sense of pride and awareness of my actions while wearing my Nation’s colors.

Secondly, when we as service members ask our partner to become our spouse, we’re also asking them to commit to being a part of the military family. Lance has sacrificed a great deal for me and the Navy. He moved from his comfort zone and family in rural Western North Carolina to the metropolitan D.C. area. He will sacrifice even more for his country in November as we move halfway around the world to the Island of Guam for three years. It is only right that I officially ask him to join the Navy family as we begin to form our own. Our military spouses are as much an integral part of the military structure as we service members are.

Kyle apparently told Lance that they were going to someone else’s surprise proposal.  Friends and family were all waiting in hiding for the big moment.

Congrats to the happy couple.

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Pentagon LGBT Pride Month flyer

JoeMyGod shares this flyer apparently produced by the Pentagon in anticipation of celebrating our nations’s LGBT soldiers and families. Very, very cool to see.

The text of the flyer reads: “For more than two centuries, we have worked to extend America’s promise to all our citizens.  Our Armed Forces have been both a mirror and a catalyst of that progress.  And our troops, including gays and lesbians, have given their lives to defend the freedoms and liberties that we cherish as Americans. – President Barack Obama, September 20, 2011”

(source)

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This is how DOMA impacts gay and lesbian service members

Marine Corps. Captain Matthew Phelps made history when he became the first gay man to ask his partner, Ben Schock, to marry him at the White House.

The Center for American Progress and OutServe/SLDN profile the soon-to-be-married couple in a video highlighting the financial struggles they’ll incur because of DOMA:

As long as DOMA remains in effect and the cost of his moving is taken into consideration, Capt. Phelps may expect to receive about $20,000 less in benefits and allowances than the other married servicemen that he serves beside.

(via Towleroad)

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Sec. of Defense Panetta expected to announce extension of benefits to LGBT military families

Via press release: Outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is expected this week to announce the long-delayed extension of support and benefits for gay and lesbian military families, according to reports.

Army Veteran and OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson said today that the organization hopes Panetta will take full advantage of this final opportunity to act before leaving office.

“Secretary Panetta established a strong civil rights record long before taking office at the Pentagon, so his unwillingness to extend support and recognition to gay and lesbian service members and their families where it is clearly within his authority to do so has baffled many of us. We are hopeful that he will not take half-measures here; for him to grant anything less than the full extent of benefits available under current law would be an anticlimactic end to an otherwise exemplary record on civil rights,” said Robinson.

Read more here.

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Active servicemembers march in San Diego Pride parade in uniform

For the first time since the repeal of DADT, today in San Diego members of the military marched in a gay pride parade in full uniform. Earlier this week the Pentagon, which typically does not allow uniformed personnel to march in civilian events, said that it was making a one-time exception for San Diego Pride.

The loudest cheers from the parade crowd of nearly 200,000 were reserved for them. The U.S. military contingent included about 40 members — some active, some retired. As they assembled in the staging area, countless spectators took pictures of and with them. Most of the active-duty personnel said they were under orders not to give interviews although photos were fine. Sean Sala, 27, who left the Navy last year but helped organize the military group, said the significance of this year’s active-duty uniformed participants is bolstered by government approval for the first time. “I think everybody wants to make it a gay thing, but it’s just an American thing,” he said. “These are people that have laid down their lives for their country, you know, and they deserve recognition for their service regardless of their sexuality.”

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Pentagon: Servicemembers may wear uniforms in pride parade

The Department of Defense has given its permission to all branches of the military to wear their uniforms while marching in a San Diego gay pride parade this weekend.

In a letter sent by Rene Bardorf, deputy assistant secretary of Defense, the Pentagon officially blessed the idea. “We hereby are granting approval for service members in uniform to participate in this year’s parade,” Bardorf wrote. There are two conditions — marchers are participating in their “personal capacity” and always follow the military’s standards for appearance and behavior while in uniform. The ruling also only applies to this year’s march in San Diego.

“Today is a great day of Pride! San Diego Pride is honored to have the privilege of celebrating our country and our servicemembers with dignity and respect,” said San Diego LGBT Pride executive director Dwayne Crenshaw. “The fight for equality is not over and it is not easy, but this is a giant leap in the right direction.”

Via The Advocate