Eat it, critics, OutServe HAS established chapters!

Without mentioning any names, someone voiced a little problem last week with a blog I posted at Bilerico a few months ago about the establishment of a new grassroots, safe and confidential network for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender active duty servicemembers to connect with one another.

Critics claimed I was out of my mind for sharing pertinent and relevant public information about an LGBT-interest story on an LGBT blog, because, well, they hadn’t felt as if they’d heard enough about OutServe after my post had gone live.

Well, not five days later, we learn that OutServe has indeed been busy.

Check out this press release I just received:

“FRUSTRATED WITH DADT LIMBO, ACTIVE DUTY GAYS FLOCK TO UNDERGROUND NETWORK

OutServe Numbers Double in October; DC Office Established

WASHINGTON, DC, November 4, 2010 – With tremendous uncertainty around the future of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, OutServe, the network of actively serving LGBT military personnel, doubled in size in October. The organization now stands at well over seven-hundred active-duty military gays and lesbians, with 25 chapters worldwide including Iraq and Afghanistan. The specific chapter locations are known only within the exclusive network. All actively serving military members can freely communicate with each other and real identities are used within the network.

“We expected the network to grow slowly, since we only all actively serving members to join – but the events of the past month or so have really galvanized gay officers and troops throughout the military, and we are growing at an unprecedented rate,” said the organization’s active-duty co-director, who goes by the pseudonym JD Smith. “Our members, as well as their straight active-duty friends, are fed up with the back-and-forth on a policy that we all know is pointless and bad for the force.”

“We know that DADT is still in place, but it’s hard for the soldier on the ground to follow the news of court decisions, injunctions, and stays, not to mention Senate filibusters,” said spokesman and former Infantry Captain Jonathan Hopkins. “For the most part, troops don’t care one way or another who’s gay, but everyone is ready for this issue to be resolved. And I think we all know that it will only be resolved when the law is changed and the policy goes away.”

With the intensity of the DADT issue rising, OutServe last week established a formal presence inWashington, DC. Hopkins, a veteran of combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, will be representing OutServe as the active-duty group’s public contact in the nation’s capital. This will provide the active-duty network a direct voice in the discussions occurring in Washington.”

Sour grapes gripers will, of course, say “There’s no proof! They’re secret!” to which everyone else grounded in reality will respond: “DUH! They’d loose their jobs if they were outed!”

In fact, OutServe has skirted the traditional definition of ‘secret’ with frequent appearances in the New York Times, The AP, Newsweek, Michelangelo Signorile’s popular Sirius satellite radio show, my podcast, SameSexSunday, and most recently right on Rachel Maddow (blurred by shadowing, of course, to protect identities). OutServe is appropriately cautious, but definitely quite bold as well.

Congratulations, OutServe on making your mark!

This entry was posted on Monday, November 8th, 2010 at 5:54 am and is filed under Politics & Activism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.