Aired Nov 11, 2021
Being Queer & in the Military
Looking for ways to keep the conversation going about LGBTQ+ issues with your ERG, community group, or PFLAG chapter? Welcome to Something to Talk About, a series designed by PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality program to create conversation about LGBTQ+ issues. Each week we’ll offer an article on LGBTQ+ topics and suggest a few questions you can use to lead a discussion.
We hosted a conversation about this article as a part of PFLAG Connects and Something to Talk About Live on Thursday, November 11. Did you miss it? You can still watch it here! We were joined by retired Colonel Patsy Thompson and Barbara Brass, whose story is featured in the documentary Surviving the Silence.
Have feedback about how your conversation went? Let us know by e-mailing [email protected].
Article: A decade after ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,” LGBTQ veterans say they still feel the effects
Source:The Washington Post
Author: Casey Parks
Questions for Discussion:
- Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed, however, this article details a number of ways that veterans who were discharged under the policy still suffer. Do any of the veterans’ and active servicemembers’ stories outlined in this article surprise you? Why do you think that these issues have not yet been resolved as part of the policy repeal?
- How much do you know about the history of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy? What were the reasons that it was initially established? How do you think that this compares with other countries that pursued a more inclusive policy guiding the service of LGBTQ+-identified servicemembers?
- What can individual advocates to do better support LGBTQ+ veterans and servicemembers? What can national and local LGBTQ+ organizations do better? What gaps in care still need to be addressed?
Ways to Watch: