Lesbian Military Spouse Will Be Excluded From Officers Spouse Group On Bragg…Hmm!

While I haven’t discussed the Ashley Broadway story on my blog , I have shared it on my fan page. If you aren’t familiar with the story you can read about it in depth here.

I am touching on this topic to share MY thoughts on this issue. Whether you have an issue with homosexuality is not really important to me at the moment. I feel everyone is entitled to an opinion.

That being said this issue of the “The Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses choosing to exclude Mrs. Broadway from their group bothers me wholeheartedly.

I am bothered by the fact that here is a women whose life partner serves our country. This soldiers spouse stays here on the homefront like so many of us. She takes care of a child , she waits for phone calls during deployments ,  she sends care packages , and she shares the same worries that any military spouse endures when their husband or wife is in a combat zone.

Yet this community of spouses whom you think would welcome a fellow military spouse with open arms have essentially turned their backs on one of their own. Of course there is a whole bunch of legal mumbo jumbo that I don’t care to figure out such as the reason for her membership being denied because of a 2008 policy that apparently has not been revised. Shouldn’t that have been one of the first things done after don’t ask don’t tell was turned over.

In addition there are a lot of other details and I am sure the folks who don’t share my same opinion will give every reason for her membership being denied. You will hear things like the Association of Bragg spouses is a private group, she does not have an ID card or the legal facts such as this paragraph grabbed from “Buzzfeed” of which a portion of it comes from the policy itself:

The instruction prohibits private groups seeking recognition by the military as a “non-federal entity” from discriminating on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, age, disability, or national origin”. It does not mention sexual orientation because out gay, lesbian, and bisexual service was a ground for discharge when the instruction was written.

Read the policy in full here.

While if you look at this from a time aspect I can certainly see how back in 2008 it wouldn’t have made sense to include a gay spouse being that at that time only Massachusetts recognized same sex marriage and only 2 states allowed civil unions. In addition most gay service members were not going to come out then because of DADT.

It’s now 2013 and same sex marriages are recognized in 10 states and several states recognize civil unions and domestic partnerships. Although the Association of Bragg Officer’s Spouses is a private group and allowed to do what they want ( I am assuming) why not show some support for a woman who is going through the same thing so many of us deal with on a daily basis?

If she can’t join that group , then where can she turn to?

Personally at this point while I understand fighting for equality which I am huge supporter of , I don’t know why Ashley Broadway would even want to be a part of this group or anyone after her at this point. I get all it takes is one person to make a change but honestly would there truly be any support there? Am I and the people who share my thoughts making assumptions in thinking that it’s just the leaders of the group who don’t want her or anyone who is gay there? Would the regular members accept her? I feel like there would always be that elephant in the room.

At the end of the day it seems like military tradition (regardless of DADT being repealed) is still finding it’s way into groups on post and nothing is being done under the excuse that it’s a private group.

Ashley just know you’re welcome here with the Army Wife 101 crowd any day. Sometime last year I had the boyfriend of a gay soldier email me and ask would it be okay for him to join my fan page. It broke my heart that he felt he had to ask could he be part of a public page for fear of being shunned.

I can assure anyone of a different sexuality there is no shunning here whether you are the service member or spouse. My husband always said if someone is shooting at me and a fellow comrade can help me or save me , the last thing I am going to think about is what the hell their sexual orientation is!

Amazing to think the Marines have showed up the Army by making it mandatory for same sex couples who are married to be allowed entry to these types of clubs. No wonder my husband always claims his Marine Corps and has it tattooed to his arm. Right is right folks!

Is this group within their rights to not to include Mrs. Broadway in their community of spouses ? 

Many of my comments posted on this topic are done on the AW101 FB Fan Page. Click Here to see what other spouses are saying about this.

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Army Wife 101

Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market. She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.

Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market. She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.