Tom Carpenter: Passing the Torch to a New Generation of LGBT Warriors

Zoe Dunning and Tom Carpenter honored by OutServe Oct. 15, 2011 (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Passing the Torch to a New Generation of LGBT Warriors

By Tom Carpenter

For me, one of the most moving parts of the first ever OutServe Armed Forces Leadership Summit (Summit) held in Las Vegas from last weekend (Oct. 14-16) was when fellow Naval Academy graduate, Zoe Dunning and I were awarded lifetime membership in OutServe. We were both humbled by this recognition and kindness.

I am sure many in the audience knew Zoe and I were long time members and co-chairs of the Board of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). They were probably wondering why we, of all the OutServe supporters at the conference, were being singled out and honored in this way.

In fact, we had been doubly-honored. As guests at a special dinner for the OutServe leadership Thursday night at a resort far from the Las Vegas strip, we were asked to say a few words.  After my remarks about how personally rewarding it was, after all these years, to meet the patriots we had been fighting for, it was Zoe’s turn.  She eloquently reminded these young leaders that with the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) law, they would no longer have to serve in silence. Now was the time for us older warriors to pass the torch to a new generation of open, if not equal, leaders.

We will not fade away. We will continue to be abiding servants in the historic pursuit of justice for our servicemembers. This has always been my personal pledge.

Chaplain (Colonel) Paul Dodd, US Army(Ret) and Tom Carpenter, former Marine Captain, who serve as co-chairs of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy, OutServe co-founder and active duty Air Force officer Josh Seefried, and Doug Wilson, Asst. Sec. of Defense for Public Affiars (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Tom Carpenter (in red) with members of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

I am a person of deep and abiding faith and have been proud to serve as the co-chair of the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy (Forum). At the OutServe conference, the Forum provided two panels, one addressing the need for a pluralistic Chaplaincy and the other what the Bible really says about homosexuality.  I see the Holy Spirit often in my own life, including what others may call kismet, karma or just plain coincidence in the founding of this extraordinary new group for a new generation.

OutServe is the brain child of 1st Lieutenant Josh Seefried (AKA J.D. Smith), a 2009 Air Force Academy graduate, and his civilian friend, Ty Walrod. When Josh was being blackmailed for being gay, after seeking legal assistance from SLDN, they decided to form an active duty support group using social media – specifically, Facebook. It was called Citizens for Repeal.

Tom Carpenter, Ty Walrod, John Seefried, and R. Clarke Cooper, an Army Reserve officier and executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, which challenged the constitutionality of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Ty lives in San Francisco and was introduced to Zoe. When she was told this group was made up of not just any citizens but active duty troops, Zoe immediately became interested in their work and suggested they contact me.

As present co-chair of the SLDN Board, Zoe knew that, in addition to working with the Forum, I was also part of an SLDN undertaking known as the Military Outreach Committee (MOC). The MOC, made up of over 100 veterans, officers and enlisted from all the services, had for several months been providing information about the “impact” of repeal of DADT to the Comprehensive Review Working Group (CRWG).

Interestingly, the point of contact from the CRWG to the MOC was Gautam Raghavan, who recently replaced Brian Bond in the Office of Public Engagement at the White House.

When Josh and Ty contacted me, they asked how active duty LGB troops could be part of the evaluation process being conducted by the CRWG. This was perfect. The CRWG was hearing from other veteran groups both in favor of and opposed to repeal.  However, because of the constraints of DADT, Gautam told me that one of the difficulties the CRWG was having was finding active duty service members to talk with, as well as to participate in surveys.

Before making any introduction of Citizens for Repeal to Gataum, I had numerous conversations with Ty and Josh to make sure they were the “real deal.”  Zoe and I discussed our impressions of this team. Josh and Ty allowed me to join the secret Facebook group to track the conversations.

The membership of this Facebook group continued to grow at a phenomenal rate.  After about a month, I became convinced these were two young professionals who did have actual contact with active duty LGB troops. I concluded they could have a positive impact on the results of the study being conducted by the CRWG at the direction of the Secretary of Defense and made the introduction.  I will leave it to others to report what followed between the CRWG and Citizens for Repeal-soon to rebranded as OutServe.

This was the first step in passing the torch.

SLDN executive director Aubrey Sarvis, SLDN co-founder Michelle Benecke and OutServe's Jonathan Hopkins (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Josh and Ty stayed in constant contact with us as the process continued with the CRWG, seeking our advice as long time advocates and former officers on numerous issues.  They were also wise enough to seek the help of their contemporaries who were familiar with how things worked inside the Beltway. Members of the SLDN staff, including Emily Sussman, Ben Mishkin, Aaron Tax and most recently, Zeke Stokes were able to assist and mentor them.  These staff members were critical in establishing the excellent working relationship that exists between OutServe and SLDN.

These two twenty something’s – Josh and Ty – always made the final decisions. They understood that in order to continue to have credibility with the Pentagon they would need to act professionally, deliberately, and keep the best interests of the country, the military and GLB service members in the forefront. And so they did.

Because of the contributions made by OutServe to the work of the CRWG, Josh and Ty were present when President Obama signed the Repeal Act into law on December 22, 2010.

President Barack Obama signs the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 at the U.S. Department of Interior in Washington, D.C., Dec. 22, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

OutServe's Ty Walrod and Josh Seefried and Chris Neff, deputy director of the Palm Center on Dec. 22, 2010 after DADT Repeal signing ceremony (Photo courtesy Tom Carpenter)

Through OutServe’s support of the CRWG, they made their own contacts In the Pentagon.  OutServe would continue to play a critical role assisting the Repeal Implementation Team (RIT) during the nine month training period leading to final certification on Sept. 20, 2011.

Asst. Sec. of Defense for Public Affiars Doug Wilson with OutServe co-founders Ty Walrod and Josh Seefried (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

When Josh first approached me, shortly after the repeal law was signed, with the idea of an OutServe leadership conference in October of 2011, I told him it was too much, too soon. I have been involved in the planning of many conferences and fundraising events and told him it was a huge undertaking for a volunteer organization with no paid employees. Besides, who knew if there would be certification by October? They would not be dissuaded. As the Pentagon slow- marched the training process, I thought I would be proven right. They might have to cancel the conference, which had been set to start on Oct. 14. When they asked me about a magazine, I again told them it would be almost impossible to do without paid staff.  I was happily proven wrong on both counts.

It was the next step in passing the torch.

The Summit was a reflection of the dedication and professionalism of the leadership and members of OutServe. I have never seen an organization made up almost entirely of volunteers produce such an excellent event in such a short period of time. OutServe was only launched on July 26, 2010 and now has almost 4500 members and 45 Chapters worldwide. It is likely the largest LGBT employee resource group in the country and perhaps in the world.

A list of diverse sponsors clearly demonstrates how far this young organization has come in such a short period of time: Human Right Campaign, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Courage Campaign, Out and  Equal, SLDN, Coverity, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Michael Colman, Tropicana, Wells Fargo, Pride Institute, Stonewall Democrats of Nevada, Sanctuary Project Veterans, Amazon.com, NGLTF, Log Cabin Republicans and American Veterans for Equal Rights.

CIA recruiter at OutServe conference (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Organizations represented at the conference included Knights Out (seven cadets and an O-5 Officer in Charge came all the way from West Point; there were also two cadets from the USAF Academy, one from the Coast Guard Academy but none from my alma mater, the United States Naval Academy), Service Women’s Action Network, Military Acceptance Project, Military Partners and Family Coalition, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, NOH8 Campaign, Service Academy Gay and Lesbian Association, and the Forum on the Military Chaplaincy. There were also official representatives from Australia, Canada, Israel and New Zealand (they were the only people in uniform).

Stuart Pearce, Heml Frires and Rebekah "George" Cosford from New Zealand (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Anu Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women's Action Network (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

American Veterans for Equal Rights (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Evelyn Thomas and the Sanctuary Project (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Courage Campaign promoting their "Testimony" project (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Celebrity photographer Adam Bouska shoots servicemembers during NoH8 photo shoot (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Photographer Adam Bouska's partner Jeff Parshley prepares a servicemember for the NoH8 photo shoot (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

It was not just the sponsors, supporting organizations and representatives of foreign militaries that where so impressive, but it was the content of the program that really showed OutServe was the preeminent organization for actively serving LGBT service members.  Representative workshops included: Partner and Family Benefits, Service members and Marriage, Pluralism and Professionalism in the Chaplaincy, Dealing with Deployment and Equal Opportunity & Gender.

Kristen Kavanaugh, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Military Acceptance Project, Adriana Bostian-Kentes, President of Military Partners and Family Coalition, and David McKean, SLDN Legal Director on panel about partners and families (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

At one of the breakfasts we were addressed by the former Mayor of Las Vegas flanked by two show girls. (I am certain the lesbians were impressed!) He told the OutServe members how proud he was of all the troops and was so pleased that Las Vegas could host the first conference, inviting the organization to return next year.

The national dinner was one that I would have expected from an organization with a large professional staff that had been around for at least 5 years. The speakers were equally impressive, including former Nevada Representative, Dina Titus, a sponsor of the Repeal Act and Lori and Jeff Wilfahrt, the parents of fallen soldier Corporal Andrew Wilfahrt.

The keynote was delivered by Doug Wilson, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, who capped the night off with a message of congratulations from First Lady Michelle Obama.  The dinner program was, as expected, well rehearsed, on schedule, and started precisely on time. Nothing less would have been expect from a military organization.

Doug Wilson (rt) greets Zoe Dunning and Aubrey Sarvis (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

All weekend long I felt waves of emotion role through me. I thought back on all those on whose shoulders these young service members were standing. I particularly recalled those who had gone before us. My friend Frank Kameny – and my own partner of 20 years, Courtland Hirschi, who I met when we were young Marine Aviators.

Frank Kameny (front), Tom Carpenter and other DADT warriors on way to DADT Repeal ceremony (Photo courtesy Tom Carpenter)

Frank lived to see the repeal of DADT and Courtland did not, having died in 1992 just before DADT became the law of the land. Not to be forgotten were Tom Dooley, Perry Watkins, Leonard Matlovich, Copy Berg, Tom Panacia, Phil Adams, Allen Schindler, and Barry Winchell, to name a few.

Courtland Hirschi in Honolulu in 1973 (Photo courtesy Tom Carpenter)

Of course, there were countless others who suffered long before DADT; Miriam Ben-Shalom, Grethe Cammermeyer, Tracy Thorne, Joe Zuniga, and Joseph Steffan, among many other dedicated patriots.

And under DADT over 13,000 others were discharged, including those who were at the conference, Mike Almy, Katie Miller, Jonathan Hopkins, and Tony Loverde.

Former Air Force Major Mike Almy and retired Lt. Col Victor Fehrenbach (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

I had an opportunity to make comments at the open mic final session of the Summit and reminded everyone that although they were out, they were not equal. As an SLDN board member, I reiterated SLDN’s commitment to them: SLDN will continue to fight for protection against discrimination, for equal family benefits and for the change in medical regulations so that our transgender brothers and sisters can serve.

Asst. Sec. of Defense for Public Affairs Doug Wilson with Allyson Robinson, Deputy Director of Diversity for the Human Rights Campaign, who spoke on a panel on Transgender Service (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

The shameful injustice of DADT and the painful ban that preceded it, are now where they have long belonged – in the waste bin of history. We are embarking on a new chapter in our nation’s history and the young warriors of OutServe are proudly accepting the torch we are passing to them.

Tagged as: Adam Bouska, Allyson Robinson, Anthony Wilfhrt, Aubrey Sarvis, AVER, Christopher Neff, Courage Campaign, DADT, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Doug Wilson, Evelyn Thomas, Forum on the Military Chaplaincy, Frank Kameny, Jeff Parshley, Jonathan Hopkins, Joshn Seefired, Michelle Benecke, Mike Almy, Military Acceptance Project, Military Partners and Family Coalition, NOH8, Outserve, Service Women's Action Network, SLDN, the Sanctuary Project, Tom Carpenter, transgender military service, Ty Walrod, Victor Fehrenbach, Zoe Dunning