Pentagon

Pentagon Extends Benefits To Same-Sex Couples

Submitted by ONE Community on February 11, 2013 - 10:15am

WASHINGTON -- More than a year after lifting the ban on gay men and women serving openly in the military, the Pentagon has extended certain benefits to these service members and their families.

Gay rights groups have been pressing the Pentagon to extend equal benefits to gay service members and their families since the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The benefits include commissary privileges, access to family support initiatives and joint duty assignments. The move was one of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's last moves as a member of President Barack Obama's Cabinet, and it will likely be one of his most lasting legacies. Read more »

Officials: Pentagon extends some benefits for gays

Submitted by ONE Community on February 5, 2013 - 8:55pm

WASHINGTON — The military is poised to extend some benefits to the same-sex partners of servicemembers, U.S. officials said Tuesday, about 16 months after the Pentagon repealed its ban on gays serving openly.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has not made a final decision on which benefits will be included, the officials said, but the Pentagon is likely to allow same-sex partners to have access to the on-base commissary and other military-subsidized stores, as well as some health and welfare programs. Read more »

ONE Community

Pentagon opts not to intervene in ban of lesbian by Fort Bragg spouses club

Submitted by ONE Community on January 17, 2013 - 7:44am

The Pentagon is endorsing a move by leaders at Fort Bragg to stay out of a decision made by its on-base spouses club to refuse membership to the lesbian spouse of a female Army lieutenant, a Department of Defense spokesman said Wednesday. Read more »

ONE Community

Same-sex wife of Army officer banned from joining Fort Bragg spouses club

Submitted by ONE Community on December 14, 2012 - 3:10pm

The newlywed wife of a female lieutenant colonel stationed at Fort Bragg, the largest Army installation in the country, has been denied membership in a base club for officers’ spouses, igniting accusations from a national military spouses organization that the woman was blackballed only because she is a lesbian. Read more »

ONE Community

Furor fades a year after military's gay ban lifted

Submitted by ONE Community on September 16, 2012 - 2:49pm

They are images Americans had never seen before. Jubilant young men and women in military uniforms marching beneath a rainbow flag in a gay-pride parade. Soldiers and sailors returning from deployment and, in time-honored tradition, embracing their beloved â?? only this time with same-sex kisses.

It's been a year now since the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed, enabling gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly, no longer forced to lie and keep their personal lives under wraps. Read more »

ONE Community

San Diego gay parade has troops in uniform

Submitted by ONE Community on July 22, 2012 - 2:34pm

SAN DIEGO -- Some of the loudest cheers Saturday at San Diego's gay pride parade were for active-duty troops marching in military dress, the first time that U.S. service members participated in such an event while in full uniform.

Dozens of soldiers, sailors, and Marines marched alongside an old Army truck decorated with a "Freedom to Serve" banner and a rainbow flag symbolizing gay pride. They were joined by dozens more military personnel in civilian clothes, but the uniforms stood out among the flower-bedecked floats and scantily clad revelers.

Spectators waved signs reading, "Thank you for your service." A woman held a placard that said: "My gay son is a Naval officer." Read more »

ONE Community

King tries to ban gay marriages on military bases

Submitted by ONE Community on July 21, 2012 - 5:14pm

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) introduced an amendment on Thursday that would ban same-sex marriage on any military facility and prohibit any military chaplain from performing gay marriage ceremonies.

The Iowa Republican argued that President Barack Obama and the Secretary of Defense were “contravening” the Defense of Marriage Act by allowing military chaplains to perform same-sex marriages on bases. Read more »

ONE Community

Military members to march in uniform at San Diego Gay Pride Parade

Submitted by ONE Community on July 21, 2012 - 5:12pm

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The Department of Defense is allowing service members to march in uniform in a gay pride parade for the first time in U.S. history.

The Pentagon on Thursday issued a military-wide directive saying it was making an exception to its policy that generally bars troops from marching in uniform in parades.

The exception is being made for San Diego's Gay Pride Parade that will take place Saturday.

The Defense Department says it is making the exception because parade organizers had invited service members to march in uniform and the matter was getting national attention.

The Pentagon says the exception is only for this year's parade in San Diego and does not extend beyond that.

Pentagon's First Ever Celebration Of Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month

Submitted by ONE Community on July 2, 2012 - 7:23am

Hundreds gather as the Pentagon celebrates it's first ever LGBT Pride Month. The ceremony begins with a message from President Barack Obama followed by a message from Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta.

Pentagon to observe gay pride month for first time

Submitted by ONE Community on June 17, 2012 - 11:45am

Nine months after gays, bisexuals and lesbians were allowed to serve openly in the military, the Pentagon plans to honor them with a gay pride month celebration.

For the first time, the Pentagon will mark gay pride month just as it marks other events honoring racial or ethnic groups, Defense Department officials said.

Officials declined to give details about the event, but Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes it’s important to recognize the service of gays in the armed forces.

Under the 1993 law, gay, lesbian and bisexual troops were prohibited from disclosing their sexual orientation or speaking out about any such relationships while they served in the military, or they would be forced to leave the service. More than 13,000 lost their jobs. Read more »

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