Tag Archives: gay pride

US Navy Appears to Equate Religious Sailors with Racists, Bigots

mabus

What used to be taboo has now become widely accepted by the Defense Department.
– Airman 1st Class Kristan Campbell, 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus oversees the entire US Navy. He recently lauded the Department of Defense’s diversity — by seeming to denigrate a “diverse” view held by many US Sailors and their fellow troops.

During the Pentagon’s celebration of “LGBT Pride Month,” Secretary Mabus gave a speech (video) lauding the day.  After describing the now-repealed DADT as “morally wrong,” Secretary Mabus seemed to equate those who opposed DADT repeal — that is, a large portion of religious American citizens and US troops — with racists Read more

Colonel Bob Starr: “Obligated” to Support LGBT in US Air Force

starrpride1A fascinating set of developments has occurred in a Texas GOP primary race for the US House of Representatives. Michael Bob Starr is a retired Colonel and was recently the Wing Commander at Dyess AFB, which is in the district for which he is running. Promoting himself as a conservative — his Twitter tag line says “Conservative. Christian. Husband. Father.” — one of his opponents is accusing him of participating in “social engineering” while in the Air Force:

The candidate, Colonel Bob Starr, can be seen in a number of photos wearing gay pride clothing, throwing his arms in the air as a champion in gay pride runs, and even wearing a rainbow painted gay pride shirt…

Col Starr eventually responded, saying [emphasis added]

“I believe and strongly support traditional marriage, but as commander of Dyess Air Force Base, my job was to enforce the law and not discriminate against anyone who made different lifestyle choices than the ones that I agreed with,” Col. Starr says. “All I had to do was make sure that homosexual airmen were not discriminated against. That’s what changed in the law in 2011…”

“As leader of the base, I participated in as many events as I could to support as many airmen as I could…”

“I created an atmosphere of acceptance,” Col. Starr claims. “I did it regardless of the group or organization.”

Critics pointed out that he seemed to go beyond “all [he] had to do” when he participated in the “gay pride” events.  In another article Col Starr is quoted as saying he was “obligated” to Read more

Navy Commander Tells Subordinates to Take Pride in Homosexual Community

US Navy Capt Ronald Ravelo and the USS Abraham Lincoln

The USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class nuclear powered aircraft carrier currently undergoing a refurbishment in Virginia, recently held a “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender” celebration. One of the presentations came from Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ryan Wampler, who said

Policies like the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ propel this Navy to be the finest in the world…I take pride in knowing that I am part of an organization that…is…setting examples for the rest of the country to follow.

It’s unclear how openly accepting homosexuality makes Read more

Military Gay Pride: Be You. Be Proud

The Air Force recently pubished an official article written by military spouse Aja Trotter, writing from Osan Air Base, South Korea, on homosexual pride, describing the “reality” of sexuality [emphasis added]:

Often, societal norms and expectations cloud our ideas of what gender, gender expression and sexuality should be, diminishing our ability to see what actually is and often leading to rude assumptions and insolence.

For example, some people want or expect all men to be masculine. Some want women to be sweet and submissive. Some want the spouse of a married person to be of the opposite sex. And some want young boys to only play with trucks and actions figures. In reality, there are so many variations between gender expression and sexual orientation that it is impossible to box these identities into our own narrow limitations of what someone is supposed to do, or should be. Some women are more tough than sweet. Some young boys prefer the color pink and flowers. And some men Read more

US Army Bans Honor Guard from July 4th Church Event

After providing a flag-bearing honor guard to Abilene Baptist Church, Georgia, for the past 20 years, the US Army canceled its participation this year, claiming the ceremony violated US Army regulations:

Officials at Fort Gordon say they will not be able to send an honor guard to a July 5th service at Abilene Baptist Church because it violates a military policy banning any involvement in a religious service.

“While there are conditions under which the Army can participate in events conducted at a house of worship, we cannot participate in the context of a religious service,” Public Affairs Officer J.C. Mathews told me.

The church describes the “Faith, Family, Freedom” event thusly on their website:  Read more

General: Gay Pride is About Authenticity, Meritocracy

An official Navy article documented a US military “gay pride” event at Patuxent River, Maryland, on June 2nd that was hosted by BrigGen Tammy Smith — the “first openly gay US general.” While some have said the concept of “gay pride” celebrates sexuality by its very nature, BrigGen Smith said it wasn’t about people’s personal lives [emphasis added]:

Pride is not about anyone’s personal life; it’s a celebration of authenticity. We celebrate pride because we value being a meritocracy, because we want to be an organization that attracts and retains the best talent…We celebrate pride because no one has the right to tell others who they should be or who they should not be.

Gen Smith did not elaborate, so it’s unclear how she views “lesbian, gay, and bisexual pride” correlating with the military’s emphasis on merit.

Her final sentence was somewhat ironic, because Read more

US Army, Air Force Evolving on Transgenders?

The US Air Force announced last week that, while there was no policy change on “transgenders” serving in the US military, it now requires headquarters-level approval to actually discharge someone for being transgender. This mimics a similar decision recently made by the Army.

Air Force leaders announced June 4 a change to the decision authority for involuntary separations for enlisted Airmen diagnosed with gender dysphoria or who identify themselves as transgender.

“Though the Air Force policy regarding involuntary separation of gender dysphoric Airmen has not changed, the elevation of decision authority to the director, Air Force Review Boards Agency, ensures the ability to consistently apply the existing policy,” said Daniel Sitterly, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.

The official announcement made a point of saying “self-identification as transgender” does not automatically result in discharge, contrary to Read more

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