Amy Brian served honorably in the Kansas National Guard, re-enlisted and served a tour in Iraq. Returning to the states, she was working a desk job for the Guard, was putting herself through school with her Guard benefits. Until someone outed her to her commanders. She got kicked out, lost her benefits and had to drop out of school.Yes, she served her country, put her life on the line in Iraq and this is how we treat her:
"Brian's life since her military discharge has been stressful. She went without work for two months and dipped into her 401(k) savings to get by. She couldn't finish her master's degree because she had lost her educational benefits."
Meanwhile, Andoni at Citizen Crain highlights a positive op-ed in the New York Times where straight veteran Owen West details his change of heart in "allowing" gays to serve in the military. It's a good piece, but this paragraph is telling:
"Most military jobs are office-based and provide sufficient individual privacy. Even in Iraq many of our fighting forces are comfortably housed with compartmentalized showers."
So that's what it comes down to...to keep a few bigots comfortable in the showers we give decent Americans like Amy Brian the boot.
Somehow I think most men and women serving are bigger than that. I just wonder if their leaders are.
