The Christopher Street West
Parade through the streets of
West Hollywood, on Sunday June
12th, will be memorable
for one reason to us: it will be
the last Pride Parade where
members of our community who
serve our country in a US
Military uniform will have to
remain silent.
While almost 6
months have passed since
President Obama signed the
repeal of the un-American law
known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell”(DADT) and slammed his hand
on his desk saying, “This is
done!” – the law still remains
in effect and discharges continue. The
President promised the military
would not drag its feet and
would move out smartly to
complete the training the
military leadership believed was
necessary to prepare the force
for implementation of this new
personnel policy. Over half of
the 2 million members of the
nation’s largest employer have
been trained.
We three are former Marines – a
Captain, Sergeant and Corporal.
We were dismayed when our last
Commandant, General James
Conway,
publically objected to the
repeal of DADT. How was he
living out our motto of Semper
Fideles (Always Faithful) when
his Commander and Chief had made
it clear his administration
would do away with this law? We
were even more upset when his
replacement, the present
Commandant, selected by
President Obama, General James
Amos,
testified during his
confirmation hearing that
he, too, was opposed to repeal.
In spite of this unfortunate
public opposition to the
proposed change in the law, as
Marines we knew that once the
orders were given that all
Marines would respond with a
sharp salute and an “Aye, aye,
Sir!”
And yes, the Corps has led
the way. The Commandant, at the
last House Armed Services
Committee hearing under the
new Republican controlled House
of Representatives, provided the
strongest testimony regarding
the progress being made in
training. The Marines completed
their training last month with
the Navy close behind. We still
are waiting for the Air Force
and the Army.
The three of us were honored
by
Christopher Street West to
act as stand-ins for all our
patriotic brothers and sisters
serving silently in the US Armed
Forces as the LA LGBT Parade
Community Grand Marshal. The
tradition of the riderless horse
is believed to date back to the
time of Genghis Kahn when a
horse was sacrificed to serve
the fallen warrior in the next
world. The organizers thought
that this tradition would
capture the absence of the
service members who could not
participate in this celebration
because of DADT.
Photo by Karen Ocamb/LGBT POV
But we decided that our mission
was to maintain decorum and
merely carry images of the
missing service members behind
the empty car that was to
symbolize the riderless horse.
We were pleased to be able to
carry the fine work of
photographer Jeff Sheng and the
Kaycee Olsen Gallery.
Before we stepped off, we talked
about why the military
leadership and the President had
not yet certified to the
Congress that implementation of
repeal was ready to move forward
to the 60 day waiting period.
There was nothing in the law
that required this training and
clearly no requirement that all
the troops be trained before
certification could occur. We
were very concerned that
Secretary Gates would retire at
the end of this month and that
this task would be handed off to
the new Secretary of Defense,
Leon Panetta. This new team
would likely cause more delay.
As former Marines we knew how
this training would have
occurred when we were on active
duty. It would have taken two
minutes. The Company Commander
would have had the Company form
up and he would say something
like this:
“We have always had gay
Marines in our Corps. The
law has changed and now they
will no longer be discharged
because of their sexual
orientation. Standards of
conduct remain the same. We
do three things well- we
take care of our fellow
Marines, we do nothing to
dishonor our Corps and we
fight to protect our country
and its freedoms. Nothing
will change under this new
law. Now fall out and engage
the enemy. Semper Fi!”
We wondered what the crowd
reaction would be to an empty
car and three Marines walking
behind it carrying images of
LGBT active duty troops. It was
amazing, emotional and a once in
a lifetime experience. We knew
we were representing tens of
thousands of LGBT Servicemembers
around the world. The crowd was
estimated in the hundreds of
thousands. Some folks who read
the banner carried by two
volunteers that said ”Community
Grand Marshal” and the signs on
the side of the car which
indicated this was a riderless
horse, looked puzzled. They just
didn’t seem to get it. Some
thought the photos we carried
were of fallen LGBT veterans.
Others clapped respectfully and
nodded their heads up and down.
A muscular young man with a
tattoo of the 82nd
Airborne Division patch on his
shoulder ran out to take a photo
of us and whispered “I’m still
in, so thanks for doing this for
us.” A middle-aged woman who was
wearing a “NAVY” baseball cap
gave us a big thumb’s up. One
of us caught the eye of a man
who looked like he was a Viet
Nam War vet in an “ARMY” tea
shirt wipe a tear from his eye.
There were shouts from the crowd
of “Thank you for your service,”
“Finally”, “Its about time,” and
“Tell the President to get off
his ass!”
As Marines, we know that
victory only comes through
courage, determination and
perseverance. We are committed
to keep fighting until repeal is
implemented. This is no time to
take off our packs. When we
prevail, we will finally be able
to recognize the members of our
community who have sacrificed so
much for our country. Next year,
let them march with us openly in
our Pride Parade.
