Gay military general
LGBTQ military leaders to salute on Veterans Day
Today is the first Veterans Night since the Trump administration’s ban on transgender service members was lifted.
Four days after taking office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order repealing the ban, allowing LGBTQ Americans to fully participate in military service.
“America’s strength is found in its diversity,” the White House said in a statement at the time. “America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive. The military is no exception. Allowing all qualified Americans to serve their noun in uniform is finer for the military and better for the state because an inclusive compel is a more successful force.”
A decade earlier, the repeal of “don’t question, don’t tell” allowed gays and lesbians to attend openly after centuries of hiding, persecution and dishonorable discharges.
Below, we salute some of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer service members who paved the way for a more inclusive force.
Lt. Gen. Friedrich von Steuben
Without this gay military genius, the Continental ar
Do you have a favorite vacation memory? Mine is when my parents took us to Washington DC for the very first time. We spent a week visiting the museums and monuments to grasp history and peak into the past. The monument I found most absorbing was the one adj to Baron von Steuben. I had never heard of Baron von Steuben before, so I took a picture to study later. I discovered that he was one of the most important military leaders of the American Revolution, but is often forgotten. The fact that stuck out the most? von Steuben was openly gay. Flash forward. Envision my surprise when I found Washington&#;s Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben written by Josh Trujillo and illustrated by Levi Hastings on the brand-new graphic novel shelves at work. I immediately checked it out to study more!
Washington&#;s Gay General covers von Steuben&#;s young life in Prussia, his military history, to his death in upstate New York in Von Steuben served in the Prussian military for years before he was dismissed from the army due to rumors of homosexuality. After he was
Army’s first openly gay general retires after inspiring others
Since Maj. Gen. Tammy Smith, the military’s highest-ranking openly gay officer, came out in , she has tried being an example of living authentically while also being a beacon of visibility to other Soldiers and their families.
It’s been nearly a decade since the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, or DADT, was repealed. The policy banned lesbians, gay men and bisexuals from serving in the military. Since then, Smith has gotten married, has been promoted not once but twice, and made history after coming out as a member of the LGBT community.
This week, Smith, who was special assistant to the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, retired after 35 years of service.
In , her promotion to brigadier general grabbed news headlines. The general never sought to make history that followed her decision to include her wife, Tracey Hepner, during the promotion ceremony. It terrified her to come out as gay in such a public way, but she felt a responsibility to do it, she said.
On a personal
HISTORY
Part I
by Denny Meyer
In , President Harry S. Truman had the courage to order the racial integration of America's armed forces. At the time, bigots went ballistic shouting that they could not abide showering with a Negro nor possibly take orders from one. At about that time, Colin Powell was born and due to ongoing educational and career discrimination it took some 40 years, following Truman's executive order, for him to become this nation's first Black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now the grandsons of those constricted minded bigots must surely be shuddering in horror at the idea of Gay and Lesbian Generals and Admirals someday leading our soldiers and sailors. But, their fears are years to late, centuries in fact. We include always had Gay military leaders and heroes, ever since the American Revolution.
As the individualistic woodsmen hunters of the colonial militias that comprised the Continental Army failed against the highly organized British forces, General Washington sent Benjamin Franklin to Paris to meet with Prussian milita