Onslow Community Outreach Saturday Blessings

G.L.A.S.S. of Camp Lejeune has been participating in a program run by Onslow Community Outreach called Saturday Blessings. Here's how it works:

The Soup Kitchen that runs along with the Homless Shelter only operates from during the work-week, leaving the residents of the shelter without food throughout the weekends. Saturday Blessings allows individuals, groups and organizations like G.L.A.S.S. Of Camp Lejeune to deliver and serve food to the residents (if you're wondering what happens on Sunday, that particular gap is filled by a local church).

On our initial visit August 3rd, we were told that there wasn't anyone coming that following Saturday, August 10th. It didn't take much discussion to return. While talking to the residents and the shelter manager, Al, we learned that though many people donate food, that most times it isn't healthy... or even edible at times. Al mentioned that he's had to refuse food from donors because it was spoiled or near spoiling. The residents also told us that some donors weren't very kind towards them-some didn't speak to them at all. Even more surprising to them was how young we are. "Usually, you don't see young people coming in without someone older bringing them in", Al mentioned. All things considered, G.L.A.S.S' presence was greatly appreciated.

1st in the Military, 1st in the Navy... 1st in the USMC!

This past Thursday, I walked into the Command Suite of Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune with SPART*A Deputy Communications Director Mark Mazzone and our Community Involvement Coordinator (CIC) Brannon Lawson to seek Command Endorsement. Personally, I'd had meetings before with members of the command seeking support leading up to this meeting and they hadn't ended positively. As we sat down in a small room, we were all ready for battle, prepared for any negative argument there may be... but it wasn't needed. The Executive Officer, CAPT Kurt J. Houser, spoke on his beliefs of equality and expressed his empathy for fellow sailors who had to deal with the hardships of serving under DADT. He gave me time to speak about G.L.A.S.S. and I took the opportunity to talk about why I thought it was needed. The XO agreed and at that point said "Whatever you need, if its within reason, you got it. I don't know exactly how it will happen, but it will happen." At the end of the meeting we had a tentative agreement to recieve Command Endorsement and support from Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune. 11 months later, G.L.A.S.S. Of Camp Lejeune is the 1st Gay-Straight Alliance recognized on a United States Marine Corps Installation. You'd think we'd stop to take a victory lap, but no such thing happened... We went right back to work.
Ibi Iugiter-Always There
HN Peete, R.D.
G.L.A.S.S. of Camp Lejeune
President & Co-Founder

USS Milius, the Flagship for the GLASS fleet

So because I find myself on this beautiful Sunday afternoon knee deep in GLASS stuff I figured I would take a moment out of the grind and brag about my ship, USS Milius, the gayest ship in the Navy.

(Hence the hull number heh)

Now in my brief Naval career I have had the good fortune to be stationed at extremely forward-thinking commands like Great Lakes Naval Base under Captain Peter Lintner (who was an AMAZING Commanding Officer) who first approved our first GLASS charter. After basic A school for my rate I got shipped to San Diego to finish up school for six months at which point I took a slight sabbatical from activism while I learned about my weapons system. It was October of last year when I first set foot on my ship USS Milius DDG 69 stationed out of San Diego. 

Honestly the first thing I really noticed as I did my check in process aboard ship was all the gays. They were everywhere. In the galley, in CSOOS, on the weather deck- everywhere. I still didnt really know anyone but I said screw it and decided to get GLASS started right away....

(needless to say it took some time getting it approved)

It took a good 3 months of pestering the hell out of my CMC, XO and CO before it got the official green light to operate. At that point we already had a great number of people who wanted to be a part of the organization. We were making plans, now we had the paperwork.

(Needless to say I cried like a damn baby when this shit was finalized)

Anyway, since it was officially chartered five months ago, we have had three more ships join our GLASS fleet. Each one has had it's own stories and such, but MILIUS remains the flagship and we have taken that responsibility to heart. We are trying to set the bar high and go still higher. We do lots of shit for our community. We do lots of shit for our command. We do lots of shit for each other.

There are no words to describe how proud I am of them. Our command is so similar to others in the sense that we are a small crew. We all know each other well. We are a family and our shipmates have accepted their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters with open arms. We work side by side with each other with no issues. We are a model of what the Navy could be, what the Military in general can be. If this program can work with a crew of 300 people, it can work anywhere. With every passing week we are adding new bases and commands to our organization. We have passed the olive branch to the Air Force, the Marines and the Army. Each branch in turn has taken it and are making strides to incorporate it to fit their needs. We are the future and I gotta say, the future is looking bright.

- FC2 Ann Foster

GLASS Chapter President, USS Milius

Midnight thoughts of a GLASS activist

To say that I have had an interesting year and a half has been an understatement. For all intents and purposes it has been the most impactful and intense year and a half of my life. Back in the fall of 2011 I sat moping around in my barracks room of Great Lakes Naval Base, pissed off that there were no resources for me, for my friends, for anyone who was LGBT in the military. Honestly I was pissed off that the repeal of DADT didnt really mean shit other than the fact that I could be "out". I couldn't be "in" honestly even if I tried. For me being pissed off was an inward thing. If I ever got angry at anything I didn't like to show it. I would try to not let it interfere with my life. After all, who was I to complain about how we were treated, or the lack of resources, since I had been in the Navy for less than a year? Compared to the other countless numbers of people who had gone before me? How dare I feel frustrated? To be perfectly frank, I was just plane over it. I was over not being able to hold my girlfriend's hand at the Fourth of July celebration on base. I was over feeling like I had to downplay who I was and where I had come from. I was over worrying that my haircut, the way I acted, the way I carried myself weren't "feminine" enough. That I always acted "too much like a dyke." I was over feeling ashamed.

Most of all I was over the fact that there was NOWHERE  to ask for help. Hell, if I had any question at all about  how to navigate in the military as an obvious lesbian I was pretty much shit out of luck.
It was that frustration above everything, above seeing my friends struggle, above seeing the frustration in my girlfriend's eyes as I shied away from her hand on base, above sitting back and waiting for national policy to come around, that prompted me to finally stand up.

It was that act of standing up, that act of calling yourself out, that act of saying "enough", that was the turning point. For the first time in my life I felt empowered. It was like coming out again, but in a more profound way. I had been "out" for years prior to enlisting. That entire time I hadn't ever had the courage to actually stand for something. I always assumed the work would be done by someone else. I was wrong. The work is done by each of us. Each of us are responsible for this movement. Each of us bear the same responsibility. Each of us have the capability to step up, to take a stand, to open their mouth and add to the chorus of voices that have gone before us for the greater good.

A year and a half ago the stars aligned and, with the help of amazing people, organizations and a very, very forward thinking command, we started GLASS. It boggles my mind that there wasn't a gay-straight alliance in the Military before us. To this day, after the commands that have active chapters, after the emails and phone calls we receive every week asking for help, after the dozens of bases in the process of starting up GLASS chapters, it boggles my mind that no one else did this before us. Who were we to start this? What right did a group of three E-3 sailors have to walk into our Captain's office and tell him about this crazy idea? We were just like every other Sailor or Marine or Airman fresh out of bootcamp: scared and unsure and completely unaware of what would happen next.

After our first meeting with the CO of Great Lakes, FC3 Liz Greenwood, FC2 Beau Brisco and myself hurried out of our Captain's office, speechless, shaking with excitement and gave each other a three-way hug. We had taken the first step. I have learned in time that that first step wasn't the start of a sprint, but of a relay, with many many different people.

We continue this relay today. Our organization has grown and many many others have taken on the responsibility of standing up, of speaking out and of putting their money where there mouth is. I never thought I could be as proud and as humbled as I am today. I never thought I could feel the bond and share the joy and frustration and fear and hope that I have with my fellow servicemembers in arms.

This blog, like many other things we are working towards with GLASS and other organizations, is a tool to reach out and connect with that sailor who feels alone. That airman who is afraid to come out. That marine who doesn't know how to navigate the red tape. This is for you. Thank you all.

-FC2 Ann Foster
GLASS Founder
GLASS President USS MILIUS/ DDG 69

Donna R. Johnson Memorial Highway Cleanup

Yesterday, the Camp Lejeune Chapter of G.L.A.S.S. honored the memory of a fallen LGBT Servicemember by helping to make the community a bit more beautiful by collecting trash from the side of a 2 mi stretch of Highway 17 in Jacksonville, NC. Tracy Johnson, Donna's widow was in attendance along with Donna's parents. G.L.A.S.S. of Camp Lejeune will continue to do cleanups on a monthly basis.

Ideas for G.L.A.S.S.

Well everyone GLASS is really making head way but now it is time to start focusing on the specifics.  The main problem I have been having is helping people that are still in the closet.  How to reach them to help them out.  There are a few that are being made fun of already in just speculation.  I am really at a lost on ways to help.  The other thing I am looking for is specific ideas for meetings.  Since there are no exact benefits out at this time for same sex couples I am trying to figure out what to do for our meetings.  Right now we have representation from all enlisted but officer's seem to be a harder crowd. 

Does anyone have any ideas for fundraising?

I am really proud of the work that has already been done in GLASS.  I feel that just the existence of this group speaks out to how far we have come.  I can't wait to see what the future holds.  But more than anything I am looking forward to us getting rid of GLASS.  And what I mean by that is hopefully at some point in time there will be no segregation as far as sex is concerned.  One day I know it will come true.  But in the mean time we need to keep fighting and get the equal rights we all deserve.

Reflections In Polished GLASS: Why I Started G.L.A.S.S. of Camp Lejeune

One August evening, sitting all alone on duty and depressed in a tiny shack that was Camp Devil Dog Battalion Aid Station (BAS), I would've elicited reactions of shock from someone who'd just met me. They'd probably say "...but you just got engaged!" They would be right I'd just gotten engaged to the woman who is now my wife. The previous weekend, I'd told my mother the news. She was worried, we'd know each other 6 months... any mother would be worried if their child called and told them they were getting married after that amount of time should be worried. There was also some words that would hurt more than any physical injury I'd ever sustain... or as a Navy Hospital Corpsman, treated. I was asked what I'd do if hit on by a man; my response being "The same thing you do when you're not interested, Ma. I'll politely turn him down and move on." That was succinctly responded to with "That's not how it works for you people." I then sat through a slightly less brief explanation of how I would be incapable of being faithful because I am a Bisexual Man. I told my mother that her explanation was the most ignorant thing I'd ever heard her say... and politely ended the call. A week later (2 days before my duty), she doubled down on her statements. While I'd been simmering in my own heartache, I'd also come across news stories about Gay-Straight Alliances at the Service Academies. I thought to myself "There's no way there isn't at least one in the Fleet!" My search only took one try to find G.L.A.S.S. I then realized what I was doing: allowing myself to fall in to a deep, dark hole that I'd fallen into many times before, climbing up only to fall back in. At the bottom of that hole were many things I wanted no part of anymore: depression, self-loathing, destructive behavior... a suicide attempt. It was at that moment that I resolved to use my pain as fuel to do good; to be a positive impact for someone who may still be in their hole. That night, I contacted G.L.A.S.S. Great Lakes and 11 months later G.L.A.S.S. of Camp Lejeune is doing things that even I didn't envision that night that now seems so long ago. With the help of some amazing people like Co-Founder Benjamin Becker, G.L.A.S.S. of Camp Lejeune has become a beacon of support.  If you're reading this and you're in your deep dark hole of despair... start climbing. You've got friends at the top... and we've got a rope ladder and flashlights.

HN Peete, R.D.

G.L.A.S.S. of Camp Lejeune Co-Founder & President