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4 June 5, 2015 www.aerotechnews.com/marcharb
June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month
(prepared by Dawn W. Smith, Defense On June 2, 2000, President Clinton is-
Equal Opportunity Management Institute) sued Proclamation No. 7316 for the first
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. “This
Diversity is one of our nation’s great- June, recognizing the joys and sorrows
est strengths. During Lesbian, Gay, Bi- that the gay and lesbian movement has
sexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride witnessed and the work that remains to be
month, we celebrate our rich diversity done, we observe Gay and Lesbian Pride
and renew our enduring commitment Month and celebrate the progress we have
to equity. The dedication and contribu- made in creating a society more inclusive
tions of our Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual and accepting of gays and lesbians.”
(LGB) service members and Lesbian
Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) ci- June was selected as Pride month to
vilians have had immeasurable impact commemorate the events of that month
on our National Security and the De- in 1969, known as the Stonewall ri-
partment of Defense (DOD). ots—an event that lasted three days.
The Stonewall riots were recognized
Our nation was founded on the prin- as the catalyst for the Gay Liberation
ciple that the individual has infinite dig- movement in the United States. Patrons
nity and worth. The DOD, which exists and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in
to keep the nation secure and at peace, Greenwich Village, New York, resisted
must always be guided by this principle. police harassment of the LGBT com-
In all that we do, we must show respect munity, although the struggle for civil
for the serviceman, the servicewoman, rights in the LGBT community actually
the civilian employee, and family mem- began much earlier.
bers, recognizing their individual needs,
aspirations, and capabilities. Dr. Frank E. Kameny fought for gay
rights more than a decade before the
This month we acknowledge the Stonewall riots. He served in World War
painstaking labor of Americans—sung II, and later as a civil service astrono-
and unsung—whose personal sacrifices mer with the U.S. Army Map Service.
and determination were instrumental in According to the Library of Congress,
the struggle for civil rights.
See PRIDE page 5
