#memorialday2018

In honor of Memorial Day. God bless all our military veterans past and present and their love for our felines.

In honor of Memorial Day in the United States, we’ve selected an Overview of Arlington National Cemetery outside of Washington, D.C. Since the American Civil War, the 624-acre cemetery has become the final resting place for veterans of the nation’s conflicts. The structure seen here is the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater that also contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

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38°52′48″N, 77°04′12″W

Remembering Those Who Served in Silence

Memorial Day is a day to remember those who lost their lives while serving in America’s armed forces. There is friction in the veteran community about whether you should spend the weekend solemnly remembering or having a good time, and there are decent arguments on both sides. I have done a bit of both.

In the spirit of the former, I would like to take the time to remember the LGBTQ service members who died while serving in silence under prohibitive policies such as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the outright prohibition on sexual minority service prior to that, and the longstanding (and actively contested) policies prohibiting the open service of transgender individuals. 

These individuals often served in a climate of hostility - whether overt or subtle - that manifested through both personal and institutional channels. They often lived in states of stress and sometimes outright fear over having their sexual orientation or gender identity discovered, because the consequences of such discovery ranged from harassment to violence to discharge from service. (It’s worth noting that gender minority service members may still live with this fear today, as their service status seems to be subject to the whims of the president.) 

These silently serving LGBTQ individuals may have felt isolated by virtue of having to conceal an essential part of themselves from their fellow service members. Worse, any harassment and violence they did experience often could not be reported, as such reporting could in itself be an act of disclosure that could be career-destroying. So many of these service members carved out a lonely path and walked it bravely with nobody to even witness it. 

Others found ways to create community in secret, circumventing this system of suppression by circulating gay pamphlets or meeting off base to enjoy time together in formal or impromptu queer spaces. Some found camaraderie and safety in straight and cisgender allies and LGBTQ-friendly leaders or units that protected them even in the midst of prohibitive policies. These dauntless individuals did all of this at great risk to themselves and sometimes to others, a risk worth taking to live their lives with authenticity in the face of widespread individual and institutional discrimination. 

Still, all of these individuals were vulnerable. Witch hunts - mass efforts to cull a unit of sexual minority personnel - were real. Violence, harassment, fear - those were all very real. For some, even after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” that fear remains. For some, the closet remains very securely closed. Let us not forget that. 

So for those fallen LGBTQ Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who had to look over their shoulders and silence their truths, for those whose real lives and loves were unknown even to their closest comrades-in-arms, for those who continued to serve with honor and dignity even when the military and country they served condemned them...