Tag Archives: Public Expression

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

SECAF: Diversity, Moral Courage, and Barriers for Same-Sex Couples

In her address to the 2015 USAFA graduating class, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James called on the new Second Lieutenants to

have the moral courage to stand up for what is right.

It is a worthy, if nearly clichéd, reminder to graduates. It is curious, though, if some parts of American society or American government can remember what “right” — or moral courage — even is.

Notably, every news article covering the 23-minute speech by Secretary James (including the official ones) noted one specific phrase, in context and in bold below:  Read more

ACLJ Defends General Olson, Criticizes Mikey Weinstein

Skip Ash of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) penned an article last week taking Michael “Mikey” Weinstein to task for Weinstein’s demand that the Air Force court-martial Major General Craig Olson. In the piece entitled “The Radical Assault on Faith in the Military Must be Stopped,” Ash called Weinstein’s allegations “outlandishly wrong” and “hogwash!”  (This comes after Weinstein’s friend, Chaplain Ron Crews of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, described (PDF) Weinstein’s attack as “hysterics” from an “activist[] with an axe to grind against religion.”)

The ACLJ also revealed that they wrote their own letter (PDF) to Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh with a remarkably clear and simple explanation of the error of Weinstein’s ways (Crews wrote a similar one (PDF)). Referring to Weinstein’s imploring of General Welsh to “take a good, hard look” at the video of General Olson’s speech, the ACLJ said [italics original, emphasis added]:  Read more

Bible Quote Court-Martialed Marine Appeals

Update: Franklin Graham weighs in here.

Court-martialed Marine Monifa Sterling has enlisted the Liberty Institute to help her appeal her conviction, which included a controversy over Bible quotes she had placed on her desk. Sterling was convicted

of failing to go to an appointed place of duty, disrespecting a superior commissioned officer and four specifications of disobeying a lawful order. She was sentenced last year to a reduction in rank from lance corporal to private and given a bad-conduct discharge, a status that will stay on her military record and prohibits her from receiving benefits as a veteran…

Sterling was found guilty Read more

US Army Changes Rule on Sikh Accommodation

The US Army has reportedly changed a policy that will make it easier for Sikhs to obtain religious accommodation. An Army message entitled USAREC Message 15-032 Update, Religious Accommodation Exceptions to Policy, was released last month but does not appear to be publicly available. It reportedly allows applying US Soldiers to adhere to their faith tenets while their request for accommodation is being granted. The previous policy — and the policy that still exists in the other services — is that troops requesting accommodation were required to first adhere to general policies, only deviating from them after they were granted accommodation.

The change has been reported Read more

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