SmithNearly a year after the end of the U.S. military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that forced gay service members to hide their sexuality or risk being discharged, the Army last week promoted its first-ever openly gay flag officer.
Brig. Gen. Tammy S. Smith came out to her fellow officers Friday when her wife, Tracey Hepner, pinned a general’s star on her uniform at a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, The New York Times reports. Smith and Hepner were married in D.C. in March 2011.
Smith’s promotion is a landmark event because it came coupled with her acknowledgment of her sexuality, a spokeswoman for an organization of LGBT service members told the Times:
Sue Fulton, a spokeswoman for OutServe, a two-year-old organization of lesbians and gay men in the military, said Sunday that it was “highly unlikely” that General Smith was the only gay officer of her rank. She called General Smith’s public acknowledgment significant.
“I would say that it’s important to recognize ‘the first,’ because then the next person doesn’t have to be first,” said Ms. Fulton, a 1980 West Point graduate. “Once we get over each ‘first,’ each hurdle of ‘Well, that’s never been done before,’ it makes it a nonissue going forward.”
Smith, 49, currently serves as the deputy chief of the Army Reserve. Her 26-year Army career includes tours of duty in Panama, Costa Rica, and Afghanistan.
