Proud and Proud to Serve

UNITED STATES

06.23.2020

Courtesy Story

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)           

ATLANTIC OCEAN — Every June, communities around the world celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) Pride Month, and for the last nine years, Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and Airmen have been able to openly celebrate their pride every day.
June was chosen as LGBT Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall Riots that occurred June 28, 1969, when members of New York City’s LGBT community protested against police raids specifically targeting patrons of a well-known gay and lesbian establishment. The celebration of LGBT Pride month is often marked with community gatherings and fellowship.
The military prides itself on the diversity of its service members, and strives to be a snapshot of society as a whole. According to senior defense officials diversity makes the military stronger — diversity of people and diversity of thought. LGBT service members are a vital part of that diversity. They are Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and Airmen, who proudly don the uniform to serve their country, and take pride in being themselves while they serve.
“For me, Pride month is about being open and able to be who you are,” said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Kyle Gladding, from Deatsville, Alabama. “I grew up in a military family, my dad is retired Air Force, and I always wanted to serve. But, before the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, that would have meant leaving my partner behind, and not being true to myself.”
Throughout United States military history, service members who were LGBT have served honorably, but were unable to be open about their identity. The repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ on September 20, 2011 enabled a member of the military to openly serve with distinction, without the fear of discharge based on their sexual orientation.
“When ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was repealed, that decision was one of the biggest factors for me joining the Navy,” said Gladding, the events coordinator for the Gay, Lesbian and Supportive Sailors (GLASS) organization aboard Ford.
GLASS was established onboard Ford in December 2019.
“GLASS is a unique group. We are a peer-to-peer group for E-1 through O-10, and we are here to provide a safe space for LGBT and other supportive Sailors,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tara Dariano, Ford’s physical therapist and GLASS officer-in-charge, from Mount Vernon, New York. “Our group is here for LGBT Sailors to ask questions and for them to have access to a group of people they can be themselves around. Even though ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was repealed, there is still some stigma and uncomfortableness, and we are here to break down those barriers.”
The first record of a service member being dismissed from their duties because of their sexual orientation comes from 1778, when Lt. Gotthold Fredrick Enslin was found guilty of “attempting to commit sodomy” and dismissed from the Continental Army, following an order from then Gen. George Washington.
“If you look at our evaluations or fitness reports, there is no box on that form that says male or female; there is no box on that form that says white, African-American or Asian; there’s no box on that form that says straight or gay,” said Dariano. “I think we are the only entity in the U.S. that doesn’t really judge based on any of those things, and I think that is phenomenal. They just care that we can do our job, and if everybody can do their job we can get the mission completed.”
Even during some of our nation’s most dire conflicts, such as World War II, the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War, members of the LBGT community were disqualified from service. In 1941, the U.S. Selective Service System included ‘homosexual proclivities’ among its list of disqualifying conditions for inclusion in the military draft.
The wheels of change began to spin in 1993 when President Bill Clinton signed into law the policy that was known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ While this was an initial move in the right direction, that allowed members of the LGBT community to serve, they were not allowed to serve openly. Members still faced the threat of discharge, as evidenced by the more than 13,000 service members that were discharged under the policy.
“Even being in the Navy through ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, you never thought one day we [LGBT Sailors] would be considered in that grouping that gets honored, and now it’s a time for us to celebrate,” said Senior Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuels) Cherry Pizzarelle. “People don’t realize that other people went through a lot of trials and tribulations, and now they can celebrate who they are and come together and be proud to be who they are and proud to serve.”
“[Before the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’] we had support, and the people that were [LGBT] somehow found each other or they found you and they were there for you,” said Pizzarelle. “You were always worried because of perceptions; you just wanted to be able to do your job, but you couldn’t be open about who you were, so you lost that closeness with your shipmates, because you had this private side that you had to keep hidden because it could cost you the career you wanted to have. You never got to be your full you around your shipmates and your military family.”
Then in 2011, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell paved the way for Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and Airmen to serve their country honorably without having to hide who they are and who they love.
“When we had our GLASS meeting — we have a wonderful chiefs mess — they came down to support. They aren’t gay, they just came down to show support for their Sailors, and the Sailors saw that,” said Pizzarelle. “It made them feel more comfortable, and that opened us up to be better leaders. It showed our Sailors that we, their leadership, has their back and they are there if they are having issues.”
Supportive Sailors are a key component of GLASS and the success of every Sailor aboard Ford, because inclusion is key to the well-being of every Sailor.
“No one wants to sit at the table alone, you want to be a part of things, you want to feel connected, especially on a ship; it can be very lonely if you don’t feel connected or a part of the group,” said Dariano, on the importance of having supportive Sailors. “Having it be okay, that they don’t care who you are, or the clothes you wear, but that they care you can do your job. I think that’s the amazing thing about the Navy.”
The Navy continues to make strides in its acceptance of the LGBT community and its proud service members, as seen in the decision, by then Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, to name a ship in honor of Navy veteran and slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk in 2016. The second ship of the John Lewis Class of fleet replenishment oilers will be the USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206).
For more news from USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), visit www.dvidshub.net/unit/CVN78, www.facebook.com/USSGeraldRFord, or on Twitter @Warship_78

• Date Taken: 06.23.2020
• Date Posted: 06.23.2020 13:59
• Story ID: 372669
• Location: US