An infantry officer in Afghanistan explains the personal relevance of DADT

[Christa]

Sir,

This is indeed revolutionary stuff. Not the deliberate reconsideration of the DADT issue, but that you're actively encouraging such an adult, open dialog.

I'm one of your officers, currently deployed supporting a WIAS tasker and I look forward to my Division meeting up with me here in Afghanistan. My partner of 10 years and I have happily accepted the various assignments the Army has given me this past decade and have weathered my two 12-month-long and one 15-month-long deployments like, I would imagine, nearly every other couple - save for one detail: the partner I leave behind has no support from any official channels. He would be notified after my brother who is listed as my Emergency POC/NOK. After 10 years, my partner has earned the right to be told first about my death. He has earned the right to make my health emergency decisions. And, he has earned the right to be recognized for his sacrifices just as any other spouse. The exception being that he is not a spouse. We are not a recognized couple. And the very fact that he and I live in a marriage-like relationship could cause us to lose my pension and our financial security later in life.

As a former combat arms commander, I've had to face the DADT issue not just because I am gay - an imutable characteristic that is no more a choice for me than someone could choose their race - but because I've had 4 gay men in my command who I have known to be gay. I knew about two of them because they believed that living a lie was counter to their ethical charge as Soldiers. One was chaptered and the other was transferred. I knew about another because he was outed by an Evangelical roommate who had "baited" him into admitting it to him. He was not chaptered because we were a week from deploying and no one believed he really was gay. When he left the Army after we redeployed, he came back to tell me that indeed, he was gay. And, I knew about the fourth one because after he died of wounds from an IED, his partner of four years wrote me - not knowing my orientation - to tell me how much SSG ___ loved the Army, how we were the only family he'd ever known, and how much he appreciated the support of his fellow NCOs who knew about his personal life and whose spouses back home had taken care of him (the partner).

Read the rest here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35571422/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show

[HillbillyBob]

1. My partner and I are both former service members

I know about the evilgelical outing..they usually are the ones with an excuse such as, "oh I was so drunk last night(if they had not even had more than one or two).

Or they think they are doing some service to the service by teasing and then outing others, never mind that they have a DL bf aside from their wife.

Take into consideration that study done awhile back that was done by some college (I think it was) .
The bigots against gay folks showed an empirical physical response (via sensors place on their parts)
The ones that were not bigoted showed little or no response to the gay porn....

When I was outed I was called a security breach possible to black mail, If we were allowed to serve openly then there is no cause for black mail or extortion unless you were doing something else wrong. Say passing secrets or diddlin the generals bf or son maybe.

Isn't it about time we serve those who serve us properly, with equity and equality?
They put themselves out there knowing they can make the greatest sacrifice, their partners sacrifice, but the bigots cannot get past that "icky they have gay sex".
Frankly some of the biggest pervs I have ever met were so called straight.

To add(preview sometimes publishes instead)

I thank this guy for his service, we all owe him for it.
When I got out, I was out to everyone ever after, operating on the idea that
If folks realize they actually have friends or family that are gay, we are not the sexcrazed child molesters that the righttards make us out to be, we don't 'have relations with our pets in the biblical sense, &tc.
Just because they can imagine things does not make us guilty of things their fevered imaginings come up with, besides where do they get this stuff? Methinks they need to be analysed.