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Repeal of DADT to be marked in Denver with celebrations, challenges

Repeal of DADT to be marked in Denver with celebrations, challenges

When President Obama signed the certification ending the U.S. military’s policy of excluding lesbian and gay service members, he did more than put an end to discrimination. The President’s action stated that the military will not be weakened by having openly lesbian and gay personnel in its ranks.

That act may also open doors and restore dreams for some Colorado veterans.

Sgt. Luiza Fritz wants to re-enlist after open active duty is allowed. However, she still has to repay a $15,000 bonus she collected right before being expelled from the Army.

Local celebrations are in the planning stages for Sept. 20 when the policy is officially repealed. That date marks the end of the required 60-day waiting period.

“We’re calling it Freedom Day,” said John Kelly, an Air Force veteran. “But that may have to change since there’s already a holiday called Freedom Day.” (Feb. 1 is designated Freedom Day to commemorate passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ending slavery).

Call it what you will, the celebration will go on. Details will be announced soon.

Kelly is actually looking forward even further, to November when lesbian and gay vets will proudly and openly march in Denver’s Veterans Day Parade, full Color Guard and all.

“The old soldiers have never liked us,” said Kelly, “but they can’t refuse to let us in the parade.” Gay vets have marched in the parade since 1994, but organizers have shunted them to the back of the parade. Kelly hopes that the Color Guard will get better placement and that some active duty military will feel inspired to join the group.

While parties and parades will mark the change in the law, some vets are hoping for more. They want back in, to do the work they loved with colleagues they miss and to complete careers they’d begun before DADT abruptly cut them out.

Luiza J. Fritz spent more than 13 years in the Army National Guard in Iowa where she achieved the rank of platoon sergeant, overseeing 42 personnel in a Military Police unit. She was serving in Baghdad when someone outed her and she was shipped home and discharged. Now, she wants to return to Iowa and to the unit she was in.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said Fritz. “I love those guys. My soldiers were extremely supportive of me. They keep asking me when I’m coming back.”

Doug Denslow thought he was on his way to a career in the U.S. Marines and he’d like to resume that career. He appreciated Obama’s remarks that encouraged former military to come back to the services. “It’s a unique adventure,” he said. “You build a special bond with the guys you work with.”

He said that when he was discharged, his fellow Marines wanted to know why he had to leave since his work had been excellent.

Returning to the service is not going to be easy despite the end of DADT. Most of those discharged under that policy were labeled as ineligible for re-enlistment. It may take a court challenge to see if the military will reclassify those discharges.

Fritz faces an even worse situation. After years of top notch reviews, she re-enlisted and collected a $15,000 bonus just a year before being expelled. Now, adding meanness to injustice, the Army wants that money back. That is crushing Fritz financially. It remains to be seen if the repeal of DADT will remedy her situation.

Fritz also legally married her partner in Iowa. Should she return to the service, her spouse will get no benefits, like housing and health care, that other married couples automatically receive.

The Service Members Legal Defense Network has begun work to end the effects of that discrimination and help individuals return to the work they love.

Yet Kelly sees hope in the younger military personnel who, unlike their older peers, have long known and served with lesbians and gays and are not anti-gay.

“There’ll always be the bigots, but the younger people have already known gay roommates and gay soccer players. It’s not a new thing,” he said.

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