Ramstein recognizes LGBT Pride [Image 1 of 13]

RAMSTEIN AB, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, GERMANY

06.14.2017

Photo by Staff Sgt. Nesha Stanton 

86th Airlift Wing

"A lot of times in life we grow up with one ideal and one way of understanding the world. That’s comfortable for us. Sometimes we have to challenge ourselves to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. For a big part of my life, I grew accustomed to act like the few other gay people in my small Central American town, never "too gay", never "open" and never speaking about sexuality. Homosexuality in any form was greeted with insults and many times violence, which I sadly had my fair share of. Perhaps, we could gain a different perspective on life and learn more. Instead of disregarding the gay lifestyle and the gay ideals, how about taking a step forward and put yourself in our shoes? Maybe understand what it means to be a gay person. I continue to celebrate pride, so that youth who went through what I had to, or worse, can also one day have the pleasure of feeling loved, feeling accepted and feeling free." -U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jose Echaverry, left, 86th Logistics Readiness Squadron central storage supervisor

Senior Airman Sean Echaverry, right, 86th Medical Squadron surgical technician- “I believe celebrating LGBT and being a part of pride is important because you’re celebrating who you are, the history and understanding the people that went before you and have fought for your rights. We’re still standing up for our rights of who we are, who we believe we are.”

For the last five years, the Department of Defense observes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month in June each year. We asked 13 Kaiserslautern Military Community Members “Why is celebrating LGBT Pride important to you?”

• Date Taken: 06.14.2017
• Date Posted: 07.20.2017 05:59
• Photo ID: 3542245
• VIRIN: 170614-F-HB697-643
• Resolution: 4349x3479
• Size: 475.39 KB
• Location: RAMSTEIN AB, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, DE