Active duty jd gay
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell': Closeted Gay Troops Build Private, Worldwide Support Network
Dec. 1, 2010— -- Active-duty male lover and lesbian service members are quietly building an underground support network at U.S. military outposts around the world, anticipating that "don't ask, don't tell" will be repealed.
As Congress weighs a Pentagon review of the military's policy banning openly gay service members, the network, famous as "OutServe," revealed Monday that it has nearly 1,300 members across 27 chapters in 15 states, the military service academies and 10 foreign countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
While the numbers likely portray a small fraction of closeted gays and lesbians in the armed forces, they shed light for the first time on the extent to which many are organizing, predominantly through social media but also in secret in-person meetings and conference calls.
"Of all the support organizations the military brings to the table, this one can address our needs," a gay Air Pressure master sergeant who facilitates the OutServe chapter in Afghanistan said. "We are not able to freely communicate our specific issues
DADT Goes Out With a Bang
I should've known better. Yesterday, I wrote that DADT would cease not with a bang but a whimper. Wrong! There was, indeed, a media fanfare, with general agreement that this was a very good thing. Apparently, I'm an anachronism; but after spending my preceding adulthood in the Jim Crow era of LGBT issues, it still kills me that mainstream America has arrive to agree that treating lesbians and gay men equally is worth celebrating.
Here, then, are the most interesting DADT pieces I saw:
- On YouTube, a juvenile man who says he's a service member based in Berlin comes out to his father in Alabama on a phone dial and posts it, live. This went viral. Have your hankies ready. (Cynic alert: Am I the only one who thinks it's creepy to webcast such an intimate moment? Or wonders if the dude is who he says he is?)
- Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly asked some of the pioneering opponents of DADT for their thoughts here, notably including Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer and Michelle Benecke, who helped found the first nationwide organization opposed to DADT, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. (It's uncomplicated to forget, since most of the attention is on the men, but women were disproportion
Gay military magazine to arrive at bases on DADT repeal
Washington, DC - With the formal repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell less than a month away, a new gay-themed military publication is set for distribution at Army and Air Force bases.
OutServe magazine, whose target audience is gay members of the military, will leave on sale at bases on Sept. 20, the exact day the Pentagon repeals DADT. It's the first publication of its type to be distributed on military bases.
The magazine was launched in the spring by active members of the military who have been forced to serve secretly homosexual for years under the decades-old discriminatory military policy, which bans gay and lesbian troops from serving openly.
"Our first objective with the magazine is to let all the gay, lesbian, bi, and trans members currently serving know that they are not alone," said JD Smith, OutServe's co-director, an active-duty officer who goes by the pseudonym while DADT is still in effect. "And we also want to communicate to all troops that there are capable gay military members serving honorably, and that accepting that and moving on will build our military stronger."
The modern September
Next Edition to Materialize in Print at Selected Military Bases
WASHINGTON, DC, March 27, 2011 — OutServe, the underground network of over 2,900 LGBT military personnel, announced today the launch of a worldwide publication for gay military members.
The magazine contains features about DADT repeal implementation and OutServe chapters, as successfully as other communication of interest to currently-serving LGBT military members.
“Our first objective with the magazine is to permit all the queer , lesbian, bi, and trans members currently serving know that they are not alone,” said OutServe’s co-director, an active-duty officer who goes by the pseudonym JD Smith. “And we also hope to communicate to all troops that there are capable gay military members serving honorably, and that accepting that and moving on will make our military stronger.”
“Our purpose is to contain our next version available in type, at some of the larger military bases,” he continued. “Visibility is key. We are not about highlighting our differences, but performing how LGBT troops are proud soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coasties, and Marines just like everyone else.”
The magazi
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repealed: OutServe's Founder 'J.D. Smith' Finally Reveals Face and Real Name
Sept. 20, 2011 — -- Josh Seefried used to be a man in the shadows.
An Air Force first lieutenant, he was a warrior in the fight to end "don't ask, don't tell."
He created an underground group in July 2010 on Facebook called OutServe, which now connects more than 4,000 gay military members around the planet. Seefried said there were close to 500 members in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The network provided service members with a place to share their stories of loneliness, intimidation and fear.
"I think we were in the right place at the right time creating this social network love we did," he said. "I don't think anyone ever thought about this before."
Through it all, he never showed his tackle or revealed his actual name, conducting interviews in silhouette and calling himself "J.D. Smith."
That is until today. When the clock struck 12:01 a.m. this morning, the nearly 18-year-old policy barring gay and lesbian service members from serving openly in the military was fully repealed. And now the 25-year-old from Longmont, C