Obama appoints lesbian to West Point board as court ditches DADT
Wed. July 6, 2011 11:35 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
Washington, D.C. -
On Tuesday, President Obama appointed a lesbian to the West Point Board of Visitors, and on Wednesday, a federal court ruled that the military's anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was unconstitutional and should no longer be enforced.
The three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, issued a two-page ruling that said they could no longer justify a stay on an earlier court ruling that also found DADT to be unconstitutional.
Congress, the Pentagon, and the President have been slowly moving towards removing the last vestiges of DADT, but in the meantime, some gay and lesbian service members continue to feel they are under the threat of discharge.
This week, the President also appointed West Point graduate Brenda S. "Sue" Fulton, to the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy.
Fulton is the Executive Director and co-founder of Knights Out, an organization of LGBT West Point graduates and allies and a Founding Board member of OutServe, and serves as Communications Director for the Forum for the Military Chaplaincy and the Service Academy Gay and Lesbian Association.
In 1980, Fulton was commissioned in the Army Signal Corps and served for five years in Germany. She commanded a Military Intelligence company and was honorably discharged from the Army at the rank of Captain. Ms. Fulton is a 1980 West Point graduate, part of the first class to admit women.
The three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, issued a two-page ruling that said they could no longer justify a stay on an earlier court ruling that also found DADT to be unconstitutional.
Congress, the Pentagon, and the President have been slowly moving towards removing the last vestiges of DADT, but in the meantime, some gay and lesbian service members continue to feel they are under the threat of discharge.
This week, the President also appointed West Point graduate Brenda S. "Sue" Fulton, to the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy.
Fulton is the Executive Director and co-founder of Knights Out, an organization of LGBT West Point graduates and allies and a Founding Board member of OutServe, and serves as Communications Director for the Forum for the Military Chaplaincy and the Service Academy Gay and Lesbian Association.
In 1980, Fulton was commissioned in the Army Signal Corps and served for five years in Germany. She commanded a Military Intelligence company and was honorably discharged from the Army at the rank of Captain. Ms. Fulton is a 1980 West Point graduate, part of the first class to admit women.