Lt. Gary Ross, right, and Dan Swezy exchange wedding vows on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 in Duxbury, Vt. // AP Photo
The law banning gays from serving openly ended Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. Now that it’s history, gay sailors are coming forward in ways ranging from showy to subtle. Others are simply blunt.
One of them is Master-at-Arms Seaman Casie Jude, who’s posted in Italy. In a Facebook update on Tuesday she wrote, “Dear Navy: I’m gay. Duh.”
One of her commenters replied, “I knew it!!!”
Another sailor coming forward is Lt. Gary Ross. The 33-year-old surface warfare officer was married very early this morning at a small ceremony in Duxbury, Vt. to his partner of 11 years, Dan Swezy. It was the first same-sex marriage after the repeal by a servicemember.
Why did he come forward?
“We realized that there [are]still people serving in the military that will need good role models, who are gay and lesbian,” Ross told Navy Times on Monday, prior to his wedding. If by publicly announcing his marriage, he said, “that could help any soldier, sailor or airman realizing that it’s ok if you’re gay or lesbian and you could still become an officer and the service isn’t going to discriminate against you anymore – if that could help anyone, we decided that it was worth it.”
3 Comments
Yeah JUDE!!! GO Lesbians in Sigonella!!! 🙂 Now we just need to find dates so the Navy Ball!
Since DADT is repealed…doesnt the UCMJ (article 920.120 and article 925.125) still apply? Seems that the repeal of DADT puts us back to pre 1993 rules when DADT was passed by congress and signed by Bubba.
Amazing amazing!!! This moves me to tears. FINALLY our loved ones who serve our country no longer have a law inplace that is a heavy cloak of shame forced onto their backs. Congrats on earning another civil liberty amigos. Let this be the catalyst for many more liberties earned by the LGBT Community, and their loved ones. MUCH LOVE EVERYONE!