Brig. Gen. Tammy S. Smith becomes the first openly gay officer of flag rank in U.S. military, California Senate votes to make “ex-gay” therapy illegal for use with minor children; our community’s changing alphabet soup; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska.

The post-DADT military

Woman Becomes First Openly Gay General
Washington, New York Times, August 12, 2012

The officer, Brig. Gen. Tammy S. Smith, 49, a 26-year veteran of the Army, was promoted in a ceremony at the women’s memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The star was affixed by Tracey Hepner, who was a co-founder last year of the Military Partners and Families Coalition, which “provides support, resources, education and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender military partners and their families,” according to its Web site.

The couple married in March 2012 in the District of Columbia.

More from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and Stars and Stripes. Stars and Stripes had also interviewed Smith in August 2011, before repeal of DADT was finalized, where she spoke under a pseudonym, “Allison.” At that time, she had not planned to come out to her military colleagues:

Allison, a lesbian Army colonel serving in Afghanistan, said even after it’s repealed, she doesn’t plan on coming out to most of her colleagues. Part of the decision is simply because she’s already kept her personal and professional lives separate for more than 20 years. She said she sensed that some colleagues suspected she was gay. But still she worries about her peers’ reaction if, after years serving alongside her, their suspicions were confirmed.

For almost a decade she has lived with her partner (who is not in the military), referencing her on occasion with colleagues but never outright confirming their relationship.

“The lieutenants and captains you may talk to grew up in a semi-accepting world,” she said. “But I am a pre-DADT soldier. My peers are less likely to know a gay person, and are less likely than the young soldiers to have been exposed to a positive image of a gay person.”

But she is taking comfort that the decision on whether to come out will be hers to make.

“Even as a colonel, everyone holds power over me right now,” she said. “My niece started dating an airman, and we had to have a family meeting to talk about how to refer to my partner around him. One slip could end my career.”

If she’s outed after repeal, she might lose some friends but not her commission.

“Finally my partner and I will be able to go out and have drinks together without worrying.”

“Ex-gay” therapy

Conversion Therapy California Ban: Bill To Ban Gay Reparative Therapy Passes Senate
California, Huffington Post, May 31, 2012

The California State Senate approved a bill that would make California the first state in the nation to ban the use of conversion therapy, a type of psychotherapy aimed at turning LGBT people straight, among minors.

Alphabet soup

LGBTQQIA
Advocate, August 22, 2012

As an Advocate copy editor (read: enforcer of language rules) for the past 15 years, I’ve seen the language we use to describe ourselves and our movement evolve, and a look at our archives reveals even more changes.

Marriage equality

Plaintiffs Ask Supreme Court Not to Hear Prop. 8, Restore California Marriage Equality
California, Advocate, August 24, 2012

Lawyers for the gay and lesbian plaintiffs in Hollingsworth v. Perry (formerly Perry v. Brown and Perry v. Schwarzenegger), the federal case challenging the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, today filed a brief asking the nation’s highest court not to hear the case. If the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the case, lower court rulings that found Prop. 8 unconstitutional will stand and marriage equality will be restored in California, possibly by the end of this year.

Transgender

Transgender advocates seek new diagnostic terms
San Francisco, Associated Press, July 21, 2012

Advocates have spent years lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to rewrite or even remove the categories typically used to diagnose transgender people, arguing that terms like Gender Identity Disorder and Transvestic Fetishism promote discrimination by broad-brushing a diverse population with the stigma of mental illness.

LGBTQ politicians

Cheryl Chow calls life in closet a ‘waste’
Seattle, My Northwest, August 22, 2012

Cheryl Chow has a legacy of service to Seattle. But the former teacher, principal, Seattle City Council member and School Board member says the past 60 years have been a waste because she couldn’t come out as a gay woman.

Former city councilwoman dying, reveals she’s a lesbian
Seattle, My Northwest, August 24, 2012

The Seattle Times reports that former Seattle City Councilwoman Cheryl Chow is dying and that she regrets keeping secret her entire life that she is a lesbian — I would like to thank her.

More from the Seattle Times, and watch the story from KING-TV Channel 5 News (Seattle):

Texas’ first LGBT legislator declares herself as ‘pansexual‘
New York, Yahoo News, August 16, 2012

The Texas legislator, who garnered international attention this summer as the state’s first openly lesbian lawmaker, has now identified herself as a “pansexual.”

According to the ‘Dallas Voice’, Mary Gonzalez has defined ‘pansexuals’ as people who do not believe in “gender binaries,” meaning that their feelings of attraction are gender-blind, the New York Daily News reported.

Political conventions 2012

Republican mayor’s pro-same-sex marriage ad to air during Republican Convention
Tampa Florida, Political Ticker, August 24, 2012

The Republican mayor of San Diego has announced plans to air an ad advocating for same-sex marriage rights during next week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa. The spot, titled “Family and Freedom,” comes after the Republican Party developed its official plank on gay marriage, which pushes for a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex couples from marriage. The platform is expected to be officially confirmed at the convention next week.

Tampa’s gay bath house offers free admission to GOP delegates
Tampa, Florida, Tampa Bay Times, August 24, 2012

Tampa’s only gay bathhouse has extended an olive branch to the usually gay-unfriendly Republican Party.

Democrats look to back gay marriage at convention
Washington, Reuters, July 30, 2012

The Democratic Party is aiming to include support for gay marriage in its party platform this year for the first time in its history, a Democratic source said on Monday.

Around the world

Gay taboo turns to pride in Vietnam
Hanoi, Vietnam, AFP, August 6, 2012

Communist Vietnam is considering legalising same-sex marriage, which would catapult it to the fore of gay rights in Asia, where traditional values dominate many societies and sodomy is illegal in some.

Oxford Bows To Pressure Over Men And Skirts
U.K., Yahoo News, July 29, 2012

Oxford University has rewritten the laws governing its strict academic dress code so that women may wear trousers and men may wear skirts if they so choose.

Lesbians likelier to binge drink and take drugs
Perth, Australia, New Kerala, August 22, 2012

The [West Australia] Lesbian and Bisexual Women’s Health survey, conducted by the university’s WA Centre for Health Promotion Research, found this group’s use of legal and illegal drugs was higher than the general community and they were reluctant to get pap smears.

One in four [Caribbean men] survey participants bisexual
Caribbean, The Observer, August 15, 2012

Almost one in four Caribbean men who took part in a recent study described themselves as bisexual.

The findings were among preliminary results in the regionwide Caribbean Men’s Internet Survey (CARIMIS).

Photo credits: (1) Brig. Gen. Tammy Smith (right) with her wife, Tracey Hepner, cofounder of the Military Partners and Families Coalition. Via Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. (2) Cheryl Chow, former Seattle City Council member, clip from KING-TV Channel 5 News (Seattle).