Repeal Day: When DADT Became History

Stories from the first year Lesbians and Gay

Service-Members Openly Served.

Seeking personal accounts of actions or experiences of serving LGBT military members and your families on 20 September 2011, date of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) repeal and your experiences throughout the first year until the Anniversary date of 20 September 2012.

Did you take part in a celebration, make a point of coming out to those you work with, do a small yet significant or symbolic action (like try and update your DD 93 with a change of ‘friend’ to ‘spouse’) that marked the requirement from forced in the closest to finally able to be yourself and true about those who are your family? What is your story of how you experienced Repeal Day? What was the significance of the day for you and your family? How does the repeal affect you? In the months following September 20th, what was life like for you in the service? What was your experience in that first year? What are your thoughts, opinions, emotions, and observations for you and your family during this historic first year when LGBT service members were finally visible?  Are you an ally? What was your experience of your compatriots no longer having to hide? Were you a leader? How did this impact your unit or leader responsabilities?

Submissions will be considered for the anthology Repeal Day – September 20, 2011, When DADT Became History, edited by Victoria Hudson.

Submit your story electronically via the  submissions manager .  Alternately, mail hard copy to MRD c/o Hudson, P.O. Box 387, Hayward, CA 94543. Please include your name, rank, service, phone number, email and snail mailing address

Deadline is October 1, 2013.