Got Spine? Nope!

[DOD FED GLOBE]

Once again we the LGBT employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) have been betrayed by both our DOD senior leadership and the Commander and Chief. Its not because any of these people are intentionally mean, but it is because they lack the spine to do what they know are the right things. 

 

As an important example: the LGBT community was told that the President was going to share the same benefits that Department of State Clinton is sharing for gay couples within her purview across the entire Federal government.  This memo by our Commander and Chief reflects that http://dodfedglobe.ning.com/page/federal-benefits-and-non . The LGBT community saw this as a much welcomed change.

 

What the President failed to share is that compliance with this memo is up to the head of each Agency/ Department. Guess which Department has no intention of implementing this memo? If you guessed the largest part of the Federal government the DOD then you are correct. Their excuse up the Chain of Command is "Cost prohibitive."On paper they just say, "DOMA."

 

Another very important example is the "Emergency Stay" on the DADT injunction. Try as we might none of us that are DOD LGBT employees can figure out what the possible emergency could be. We DOD LGBT employees are in the "Know." What we do know is that for many; years, training exercises, and war operations our USA military has worked side by side and cohabited with any of our 26 allied nations militaries that allow open service at various events. How come our troops/ missions are unaffected by openly LGBT from foreign militaries, but its unacceptable to work with our own USA open LGBT service members?

 

The President deemed June throughout the Federal Government LGBT Pride month, but once again the decision to do so is up to the head of the Agency/ Department. Once again the DOD opted out. The excuse "Could interfere with DADT repeal." This is also a false justification. Yet what does our Commander and Chief do? He replaces pro equality Joint Chief Chairman with a military leader that is a far cry from pro equality. Great pride gift to the LGBT employees of the DOD.

 

There are so many failures by the DOD in how they treat their LGBT employees that it could fill at least one or perhaps two novels. So the above should be considered obvious highlights of the continued maltreatment.

 

The fact is all of the senior leadership within DOD and the Commander and Chief know what they have done by denying our families and ourselves the same civil rights as other legal groups is very wrong. These are well educated people. So the question is why do they do it? Why do they intentionally fight to keep LGBT employees of the DOD in a constant state of both fear and oppression? These are all excellent questions, but we are going to give an even better one below.

 

Where are the commercial news investigative journalists?

 

 

 

 

[Phillip Sorensen]

It's interesting that the DOD cites 'cost issues' when not extending benefits to same sex domestic partners when the Army, Air Force and Navy spend millions of dollars annually to enforce the 'five year rule' limit for employes staying overseas. These costs are associated with moving house hold possessions of the huge numbers of military and civilian personnel that are constantly rotated to and from Europe or Asia. Sadly, the five year rule disrupts continuity and forces competent employees back to the US, often to areas where they have no family. Citing 'costs' is a very poor excuse to not extend benefits to LGBT personnel.