Speaking about Cannon Air Force Base’s recognition of the DoD’s celebration of homosexual/transgender “pride,” an Airman helped explain what sets LGBT Airmen apart from their heterosexual peers:
What does distinguish us from our peers is that LGBT service members have handled adversity that has made us strong and resilient — the kind of people you want by your side when the going gets tough.
Noting the impact of DADT repeal: Read more
Luke Air Force Base held a homosexual/transgender “pride” event last week. The base’s commander, BGen Scott Pleus, said
“This is exactly what we needed here today.”
The article notes that no one had heard “any negative feedback Read more
Between sips of an iced coffee, Airman 1st Class Leslie Wilson, a 60th Dental Squadron dental technician here, talks about her life.
She talks about her childhood in Tennessee, going to college on a soccer scholarship and following in her father’s footsteps by joining the military.
However, she also discusses candidly that she is a lesbian, Read more
Update: Jason Torpy revived the issue enough to generate a Navy Times article, though it contained no new information. In fact, a Navy official reiterated a point made below — even humanists can’t really put bounds on a definition of “humanism:”
“Humanism’s not a defined term across the country,” the official said. “There’s a group of Jewish Humanists. The Humanist Society was once the Humanist Society of Friends, a Quaker organization.”
The official, referring to Heap, continued: “I don’t know that he represents a religious organization by any accepted definition.”
Tom Carpenter, a former Marine pilot and one of the founders of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy — the homosexual advocacy group that lobbied for the repeal of DADT — has attacked the Navy chaplaincy for not approving the chaplaincy application of Jason Heap, a self-described non-theistic humanist. Tragically, if not predictably, Carpenter seems to base his attack on “evidence” that does not exist [emphasis added]:
…The Navy Chief of Chaplains rejected the application of Jason Heap, a highly qualified chaplain candidate who would have been the first Humanist military chaplain. All the evidence leads invariably to the conclusion this decision was based upon a Constitutionally prohibited “religious test.”
What public evidence is there the Navy rejected the application based on a “religious test?” None whatsoever.
Carpenter implies — repeatedly — the Navy Read more
In what was probably an attempt at clever semantics, Aviano Air Base advertised its homosexual “Pride Month” as “Celebrating ‘Pride,’ condemning prejudice.” Unfortunately, the inarticulate result is a title that implies the Air Force celebrates sexuality and “condemns” the opposing view of its religious Airmen as “prejudice.”
Interestingly, the spokesperson for Aviano’s event cited diversity not only in sexuality, but also in religion [emphasis added]: Read more
SrA Kayla Dale talks with other participants in the gay pride parade, June 7, 2014, in Seoul, Republic of Korea. (USAF photo, SSgt Jake Barreiro)
The 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs ran an interesting human interest story on Senior Airman Kayla Dale, describing how she escaped the “dark realities of inner-city Chicago” to become an Air Force Airman.
Perhaps as a result of the June celebration of “LGBT pride” in the DoD, the article highlights sexuality, noting she is a “double minority” as an “African-American lesbian.” The article even quotes her Aunt — and takes the time to point out that she, too, is a lesbian.
More interesting, however, is that Dale notes her personal conflict between religious belief and sexuality: Read more
For [Senior Airman Matthew Byrd], his family has been accepting but remains uncomfortable with the knowledge of his sexuality, and like so many, their views on homosexuality are the byproduct of stereotypes…
Growing up, he was outgoing and because of this experienced daily harassment and slander from homophobic Read more
The United Church of Christ has joined a lawsuit in North Carolina claiming its religious freedom is being infringed by a law and the state constitution, which define marriage as one between a man and a woman.
North Carolina criminalizes the act of marrying someone without a valid license — and since no license will be issued to same-gender couples, multiple-partners, or anyone else who isn’t one man and one woman, clergy who performed services for such “marriages” could theoretically be subject to criminal penalties. Since the UCC wants to perform homosexual weddings, they assert their religious exercise is being restricted:
Attorney Jake Sussman, who is representing the plaintiffs, says this is the only existing marriage equality case to make a First Amendment claim. It’s also the first case for marriage Read more