Military Repeal Day – When DADT Became History

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – MILITARY REPEAL DAY  

Seeking personal accounts of actions or experiences of serving LGBT military members and your families on 20 September 2011, date of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) repeal and your experiences throughout the first year until the Anniversary date of 20 September 2012. Did you take part in a celebration, make a point of coming out to those you work with, do a small yet significant or symbolic action (like update your DD 93 and change ‘friend’ to ‘spouse’) that marked the change from forced in the closest to finally able to be yourself and true about those who are your family? What is your story of how you experienced Military Repeal Day? What was the significance of the day for you and your family? How does the repeal affect you? In the months following September 20th, what was life like for you in the service? What was your experience in that first year? What are your thoughts, opinions, emotions, and observations for you and your family during this historic first year when LGBT service members were finally visible?  Are you an ally? What was your experience of your compatriots no longer having to hide? Were you a leader? How did this impact your unit or leader responsabilities?

Submit your story as RTF or Word document to Victoria.A.Hudson@gmail.com. Please include your name, rank, service, phone number, email and snail mailing address.  Alternately, mail hard copy to MRD c/o Hudson, P.O. Box 387, Hayward, CA 94543. Deadline is October 1, 2013.

Submissions will be considered for the anthology Military Repeal Day – September 20, 2011, When DADT Became History, edited by Victoria Hudson.

 Victoria Hudson deployed for the First Gulf War, NATO IFOR Peace Enforcement in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and service in Iraq. Additionally, she served in two domestic call-ups post 9/11. She has over 32 years of service. Currently, she commands an Army Reserve Battalion in Northern California.  She is a plaintiff in a service-member and veterans’ constitutional challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act denying military and veteran same sex couples the benefits of federal recognition and spousal benefits.