Geee Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Washington Times: An association of gays in the military has more than doubled its membership since last year, is setting up more on-base chapters, and plans to hold its next national conference at a Defense Department resort at Walt Disney World. The expansion of the group OutServe in the five months since the repeal of the Pentagon’s ban on open gays shows how a steady stream of service members is coming out of the closet and becoming better organized to achieve demands for more benefits. Air Force 1st Lt. Josh Seefried, OutServe’s co-director, said its current 4,900 members are more than double the number on Sept. 20, when the prohibition ended. There are now 42 local chapters at bases around the world. “We’re about to become the largest [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender employee resource groups] in the world,” Lt. Seefried told The Washington Times. “We’re about to pass the major corporations such as IBM and Microsoft as the largest gay organization for employees.” Local chapters are becoming more active. The OutServe group at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, a nation at war, recently produced a video starring three enlisted personnel who give advice under the theme of “It Gets Better,” a slogan of the gay-rights movement. “Don’t allow anyone to tell you you can’t do anything,” says Staff Sgt. Steven Procter. “Life does get better, but it won’t get better until you start to accept yourself for who you are,” says Staff Sgt. Shelise Harmon. The video concludes with scenes of military personnel across the base holding up makeshift “It Gets Better” signs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyM Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Aside from the obvious repugnancy of this article, I'm wondering if the Defense Department truly has a resort at Walt Disney World? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 @Geee I read it and I have just one small question...what exactly are the extra rights the headline implies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argyle58 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 @Valin, the next to last paragraph of the article: Gay-rights groups have listed a number of demands since the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” including allowing cross-dressers and transsexuals to serve openly, and providing benefits for the spouses of gays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 @Valin, the next to last paragraph of the article: Gay-rights groups have listed a number of demands since the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” including allowing cross-dressers and transsexuals to serve openly, and providing benefits for the spouses of gays. I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 @Argyle58 The first question I'd ask is What would the IDF do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argyle58 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Good question.....does the IDF even have this problem? I would think not, since one would have to swear to adhere to the tenets of the Faith to serve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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