|
|
City of Chicago Veterans Day tribute includes gay speaker
News update posted Nov. 12, 2011
by Tracy Baim, Windy City Times 2011-11-16
|
|
This article shared 160 times since Wed Nov 16, 2011
|
|
The annual City of Chicago Veterans Day tribute, held at Soldier Field, included an openly gay speaker for the first time, now that the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell gay ban is history.
Held 11-11-11, the event featured many politicians and military brass, and hundreds of audience members. Speakers included event host Mayor Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Gov. Pat Quinn. Representing gays in the military was U. S. Air Force MSgt. ( Retired ) Jean Albright, director of new media at Windy City Times. She served 20 years in the Air Force and is a former board members of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. She emphasized that gays and lesbians have always served in the military, but that now they can do so openly and proudly. Durbin also mentioned DADT, and how glad he was for the ban to be lifted.
The keynote speaker was Iraq war veteran U.S. Army Specialist ( Retired ) Danielle Green-Byrd, who gave an emotional and spirited speech about the loss of an arm in an explosion during the war, the heroic actions of her team members and the commitment she has to helping soldiers as they come home from the wars.
Alderman James A Balcer was the event emcee. Military and patriotic music was performed by the 85th Army Band and the United States Naval Academy Gospel Choir.
Photos for Windy City Times by Tracy Baim |
|
|
|
This article shared 160 times since Wed Nov 16, 2011
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor 2024-03-08 - Hanania Ben-Shimonthe gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recentlypublished a post in which he pleaded that his ...
|
| | NATIONAL Chuck Schumer, anti-marriage bill, drag event back on, military doctor 2024-02-23 - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced his support for the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)and, as a result, several LGBTQ+-advocacy organizations dropped their opposition to it, The Hill ...
|
| | Col. Jennifer Pritzker comments on military museum move 2024-02-13 - Local transgender philanthropist Col. Jennifer Pritzker commented to Windy City Times about the impending move of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library (PMML), which she founded in 2003, to Wisconsin. "At the end of the day, ...
|
| | Pritzker Military Library to close in July, move to Wisconsin 2024-02-08 - On Feb. 7, the Pritzker Military Museum & Library announced that it is closing its downtown Chicago location on July 27 and moving to an archives center in Wisconsin later this year, according to The Chicago ...
|
| | PASSAGES Paris Johnson 2023-12-29 - Paris Johnson, 29, of Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, passed away unexpectedly Nov. 28. He would have celebrated his 30th birthday Dec. 20. Born into a military family in Sacramento, California, Paris moved often in his youth, ...
|
| | NATIONAL Women's college, banned books, military initiative, Oregon 2023-12-29 - After backlash regarding a decision to update its anti-discrimination policy and open enrollment to some transgender applicants, a Catholic women's college in Indiana will return to its previous admission policy, per The National Catholic Reporter. In ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Music awards, military film, Tom of Finland, Yo-Yo Ma, 'Harley Quinn' 2023-11-17 Video below - Brothers Osborne—a duo that includes gay brother TJ Osborne—won Vocal Duo of the Year for the sixth time at the recent CMA Awards, per a media release. Backstage, TJ told reporters, "I did not expect us ...
|
| | AVER celebrates LGBTQ+ veterans at annual Veterans Day dinner 2023-11-12 - Writer and historian Owen Keehnen was keynote speaker at the the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) Chicago Chapter's 32nd annual LGBTQ Veterans Day Banquet held on Veterans Day at Ann Sather restaurant on Belmont. Keehnen ...
|
| | South Korean court upholds military 'sodomy law' 2023-10-28 - For the fourth time, South Korea's constitutional court has upheld two anti-LGBTQ+ lawsincluding the country's notorious military "sodomy law," The Guardian reported. By a vote of five to four, the court confirmed the constitutionality of ar ...
|
| | WORLD Couple's win, attack in Beirut, German military, gay ski week 2023-09-08 - In Strasbourg, France, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Bulgaria violated the rights of a same-sex couple (Darina Koilova and Lili Babulkova) by not recognizing their marriage abroad, RFE/RL reported. Rights groups lauded the ...
|
| | 'We've had a ball': Prominent activists Jim Darby and Patrick Bova celebrate 60th anniversary 2023-09-07 - One of the first couples to be legally married in Illinois is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. Jim Darby and Patrick Bova fell in love decades before they became the lead plaintiffs in Lambda Legal's ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Military drama, Janelle Monae, Conan Gray, Dylan Mulvaney, Whoopi 2023-08-31 - The LGBTQ+ military drama Eismayer (from Dark Star Pictures and Golden Girls Film) will be out in theaters on Oct. 6, and on DVD and Digital on Oct. 10, per a press release. The plot is ...
|
| | FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act would undercut equality, Modern Military Assoc of America comments 2023-07-14 --From a press release - Washington D.C. - Anti-equality House members are using the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act to pass dangerous amendments targeting healthcare, gender-affirming care, education, and LGBTQ+ friendly services and resources. The ...
|
| | WORLD Pride celebrations, puberty blockers, British military, killer sentenced 2023-06-16 - Gay Pride Buenos Aires is slated to take place Oct. 27-Nov. 4, according to GayTravel4U.com. More than 30 organizations and groups host activities that will begin a week before the parade (which is on Nov. 4). ...
|
| | VIEWPOINT War in the 21st Century: mercenaries, private military companies, private armies 2023-05-20 - In 2022, $407 billion of the Pentagon budget—representing half of that year's funding —were obligated to private contractors, of which a significant number were Private Military Companies (PMCs) involved in ...
| |
|
|