Media, Military, Society

Army General Introduces His Husband At Major Military Conference

14-DECEMBER-2012---Col-Randy-S--TaylorRainbowFlagThere was a moment this week that many thought they would never see. Brig. Gen. Randy S. Taylor rose to address a major conference and introducing his spouse. However in this case his spouse was his husband Lucas who was sitting in the same row with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter Army Secretary John McHugh and other senior officials. Taylor has served 27 years through the ban on gays, the “don’t ask don’t tell policy,” and now the new policy of openness. He and Lucas have had an 18-year relationship.

Taylor discussed the sacrifices that Lucas made for his career and how they both bet everything on the Army. The bet paid off.

This week also saw the adoption of a new policy barring discrimination against members of the U.S. military based on their sexual orientation. Sexual orientation now joins discrimination based on race, gender and other protected categories.

The event itself is notable as the Pentagon’s 4th Gay Pride celebration that featured a gay Marine officer, a gay Army sergeant who is a criminal investigator, a lesbian chaplain and a transgender, Amanda Simpson, who is executive director of the Army’s Office of Energy Initiatives.

Carter set the perfect tone and told the crowd that “We need to be a meritocracy.” Indeed, our military will only stay competitive if we take the best and brightest from our ranks. Many gay and lesbian citizens have answered that call throughout history and they have now achieved true equal status with their peers in service.

Source: Washington Times

203 thoughts on “Army General Introduces His Husband At Major Military Conference”

  1. I would still like to know how they determine who gets to be the husband and who gets to be the wife. I liked the term ‘partner’ which was used initially. This husband and wife stuff is demeaning to gays as it leaves the unique situation of being gay and tries to emulate the typical situation of male female or husband and wife. This goes on with blacks and the African American routine and the convoluted names. People have the right to ask to be called however they wish but a name is the handle on the suitcase that is sometimes just so much baggage.

  2. It takes a graphic example like this of our societal evolution and adaption to certain realities to contrast the anchors dragging along behind us. They will die off, hopefully, and what was once defended by religion and custom will die along with it. Eloquent but kicking and screaming it is still nothing more than the remnant of a tail.

  3. So what is the “straight lifestyle”? And how does it differ from the “gay lifestyle?”

    I guess all those young 18 year old heterosexual males in the Army are celibate and not at risk of catching AIDS because they are “straight.”

    And then there was that heterosexual General who set such a great example for his troops by sleeping with some journalist, can’t remember his name, might start with a “P”………

    Publicly introducing your same sex spouse in the army is not the same thing as publicly announcing that you are gay and sleeping around, although bam bam seems to think that is the case.

    Bam bam, your comment is pure unadulterated horsepuckey.

    And I’m sure that this post will give Squeeky the vapors and cause her to engage in projectile vomiting of her phobia of gay men.

    (Sorry, I’ve had a long day at the orifice. )

  6. Reblogged this on 1EarthUnited and commented:
    It’s about time!
    “This week also saw the adoption of a new policy barring discrimination against members of the U.S. military based on their sexual orientation. Sexual orientation now joins discrimination based on race, gender and other protected categories.”

  7. I. Annie

    You asked for a distraction; I gave you one. Gays have served, often with distinction, in all areas of the military, for years. No argument there. The relatively new development, which allows an OPEN AND PUBLIC proclamation of one’s sexual preference is, however, problematic in that it could lead to divisiveness based upon fears of HIV transmission during battle or war. Given the statistics of HIV infection among bi and gay men, those fears are not unexpected or unreasonable. Fears, based upon the possible transmission of HIV during battle or war, from fellow soldiers who openly proclaim a gay lifestyle, should not be lost on you, especially since you have a medical background. Maintaining a sense of cohesiveness and unity is paramount within the military. A breakdown in that cohesiveness and unity threatens the very fiber of that institution. You don’t need an epiphany to get it. Unlike a sterile and sanitized hospital environment, where one has the luxury of using latex gloves and protective clothing when encountering blood or other bodily fluids, soldiers have no such luxury in the heat of battle. Anything that causes a soldier to hesitate in assisting a fellow soldier, wounded in battle, due to the fact that he fears HIV transmission from an openly bi or gay soldier, has no place in our military.

  8. BamBam, don’t you realize gay men and women have been serving on the military for many many years now? They remained in the closet, but gay they were and did nothing to detract from the military. My daughter is a Corpsman ( Medic) has served with and trained other Corpsmen, nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone knew who was gay. It wasn’t a problem. I’m off to bed, maybe I’ll be given an epiphany in my sleep and will wake up understanding your reasoning.

  9. Again, anything that detracts from a strong and competent military needs to be examined through a different lens than the one used to evaluate other segments of society. It is estimated that between 12 and 13 percent of all bisexual or gay men in the US, and as many as 1 in 5 bisexual or gay men from major US cities, are HIV-positive. Don’t shoot the messenger. That’s what the statistics, that I reviewed, claim. Now, do I believe that these statistics can or will interfere with the cohesive and seamless functioning of our military, where one’s gay lifestyle is now openly proclaimed? Yes, I do. I believe that soldiers will fear transmission of the virus, especially from openly bi or gay soldiers, given the exposure to bodily fluids during war and battle, and will recoil from assisting fellow gay soldiers because of it. The military shouldn’t be society’s test tube for social experiments. I. Annie, you wanted an example of a distraction, you got it.

  11. Religion should have absolutely nothing to do with military service. My daughter’s Master Chief is a lesbian and is married to her long time partner. She is highly respected and an asset to the Navy and all her serve with her.

  12. Obviously, this gay Brig. General has served for 27 years in the Army and has not been a detraction. Good for him. Just as he wishes to be respected for his choice of lifestyle, those who adhere to tenants, based in the Old Testament, which define his lifestyle as an abomination, should be respected. To some, this change in the military is a positive evolution; others see this as a devolution.

  14. Not everyone has the same definition for the term PROGRESS. Yes, indeed, it is change; not all change is good. Depends upon one’s definition of the term PROGRESS. The only changes, with regard to what is occurring within the military, which are worthy of praise, are those changes that promote a stronger and more efficient military. Anything that does not reinforce that goal, or detracts from it, is not progress. I question whether a public announcement, about one man’s husband, to a major military conference, accomplishes that.

  16. The intro of his husband was progress? Loose definition of what constitutes progress.

  17. It seems like the military has always been a forerunner in social reforms.

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