Love who you love

Since I don’t really have much personal stuff going on, I am actually going to blog about a real issue for once.  Family is fine, school is fine, and everything is else is pretty much the same.  So here it goes…

I am sure, especially if you are in the military community, that you have heard about the lesbian spouse who was refused membership to the Fort Bragg Officer’s Wives club?  It has been all over the news and Ashley Broadway, the spouse, was even nominated for the Fort Bragg Military Spouse of the Year (and won!).  If you have not heard about this, you can read the most recent article here: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2013/01/ap-army-lesbian-invited-bragg-spouses-club-012613/

The Fort Bragg OW Club finally extended an invitation to her, which she accepted.  I personally would not have accepted if I were her, but I think it is great that she can become a member and find the support she is seeking.  However, I think the only reason that they invited her to join was to save face.  Let’s face it, the OW Club looked like assholes over this.  But fortunately, there has been an outpouring of support for her and I think that it should be recognized that she has supported her wife for 15 years, even when it was not acceptable to do so.

This is not the point of my blog, however.  I am glad to see that she is getting what is fair to her.  What bothers me is the negative backlash and the comments people are writing.  Oh, the COMMENTS, always my favorite part of any article.  Have you read some of the hate that people are spewing out over this subject?  Many are commenting on how she really isn’t a spouse and how her wife should be court marshaled for violating DADT for the past several years.  Another is saying that she isn’t a real Christian because she is a homosexual.

It really bothers me that so many people are so negative over something that doesn’t even really affect them in the long run.  How does an officer and her wife affect a guy in Podunk, USA?  Is it really hurting anyone that someone may have a relationship with someone of the same gender?  This comes up in my mind all of the time when we address the subject of gay marriage.  How does it hurt you if their love isn’t what YOU have in mind?

I have a lot of respect for her.  She has stood by her soldier for 15 years, nearly all of those years without the same support that a regular spouse gets.  I have survived two deployments with the support of the military community and I know how tough it is even when people have my back.  To do it without all of the regular benefits that the military provides would be more difficult than I can imagine.

I do understand that everyone has rules to follow, but when those rules turn into discrimination  then I think we have a problem on our hands.  Now that more states are allowing same-sex marriage, how much longer is the military going to discriminate against their right to be declared a dependent of the service member?

I see big changes coming but I don’t think they are going to happen fast enough.

Conspiracy Theories

The last time I blogged was the day before the Sandy Hook shooting.  I had actually sat down at the computer to start posting about my newest hobby, embroidery, when the coverage came on the TV.  At first I couldn’t believe what was going on.  And then I saw that there were 26 dead in the school.  And I cried so much that day.  My son is 6 years old.  This tragedy touched me in a way that I never thought it would.

And now there is stuff going around the internet saying that it is all lies or that it was all set up by the government.  It is disgusting to me that people would take away from the families grief to tell such lies.  There is no doubt in my mind that there were 20 funerals for children this past December and anyone who says otherwise needs a reality check.

The world is in a sad state lately and it breaks my heart.