If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Maybe all the outbursts are doing us a favor by allowing us to understand and address homophobia. But the outbursts can only be helpful if they are taken seriously and not dismissed or censored by the outrage police.
Over the past decades, conservative Christians have had almost full reign within the military, and they disproportionally make up most of the Chaplaincy. In the last several years, though, there has been closer scrutiny of the conduct of certain chaplains and commanders who have used their positions to advance their own religious beliefs.
Why would our nation's military leaders be complicit as these patriots' detractors seek to discredit their identities, their families, and their service and sacrifice to our nation?
As the combat exclusion for women comes to an end and open service for gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans edges closer to truly equal service, it becomes more and more obvious that there is no rational basis on which to bar qualified transgender people from serving in our armed forces.
It's been four years since I broke up with my partner. We're among the few, proud Americans who can say that official U.S. government policy ended our relationship. Today I'm going see him for the first time since that breakup.
Happy 20th anniversary to Seinfeld's "The Outing." You helped the country take a small step toward tolerance, fairness and equality. Even if you broke the sitcom's promise of being a "show about nothing."
I wore Air Force blue for 34 years as a cadet and as an Air Force officer. I was as proud of that blue uniform as I was of the oath I swore to the Constitution. But that devotion to mission and professionalism didn't mean I was an automaton.
Today my friend Lt. Dan Choi went on trial for chaining himself to the White House fence in protest of "don't ask, don't tell." Despite the fact that DADT no longer exists, the Justice Department has aggressively pursued the charges against him. Dan deserves better than this.
I decided to revisit some of the photographs I've taken while attending Prop 8 protests and marriage equality rallies over the last five years. It's hard to deny that Prop 8 not only galvanized the marriage equality movement but added vigor to the fight in other LGBT-equality-related areas.
Dan needs some paradise right now. He is on trial for contesting and questioning Don't Ask Don't Tell, which was later repealed, yet now he has to go to court, and face some possibly harsh consequences, for speaking out against it years ago.
Presented by author, lecturer, journalist, and LGBT activist Rob Smith, the Real Talk Weekly Roundup is a weekly vlog series created to dissect and discuss politics and pop culture from a gay perspective...
Like the military, the Boy Scouts demand integrity and honesty above all. If they choose, scouts and their leaders should not have to hide who they are and be forced to live a lie.
On Jan. 28 the Boy Scouts of America announced that it would consider giving local troops the right to determine if they would allow openly gay members and leaders, a halfway measure reminiscent of the approach that the BSA used when it confronted membership of people of color.
Am I saying that sex itself, of any sort, is forbidden at taxpayer-supported military service academies? Yes. As it is, we make it impossible to show them what's wrong with unwanted sex when even wanted sex is against the rules.
After the devastation of 9/11 a young woman decided to heed the call of her nation to protect and serve. She put her life on the line, so that we might all be a little safer at home. That soldier is my wife. Yes, we are two wives.
Before joining the Marines, my femaleness had never been presented to me so vividly-- nor had I ever felt so "female" in my life. Tradition reminds us, "Boys will be boys." What if I refuse to accept that maxim, ideology and license for aggression?
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