U.S. Army officer becomes first openly gay general

* 'What is relevant is upholding Army values and the responsibility this carries,' U.S. Army Reserve officer says of her milestone appointment

* President Barack Obama repealed 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' the military's ban on allowing openly gay service members in December 2010

By Daily Mail Reporter

Tammy Smith has become the first openly gay officer to be promoted to the ranks of Brigadier General in the U.S. Army.

Smith's promotion took place on Friday in a private ceremony at the Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. She received her stars from wife, Tracey Hepner, the first time her longtime partner was officially recognized as her significant other at a military gathering.

Smith is assigned as deputy chief in the Army Reserve Office of the Chief in Washington, D.C.
Her promotion comes less than a year after the implementation of the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' (DADT), the policy enacted in 1993 under U.S. President Bill Clinton.

The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service.

After much debate that the policy was discriminatory, the U.S. Congress voted to end it with the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.

President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on December 22, 2010 and full implementation of the repeal occurred on September 20, 2011.

But Smith, 49, downplayed the milestone of her appointment in a post DADT military, in an interview with Stars and Stripes newspaper.

'All of those facts are irrelevant,' she said. 'I don’t think I need to be focused on that. What is relevant is upholding Army values and the responsibility this carries... For me, the story is about the promotion and the opportunities it brings.'

She did concede though, in an earlier interview, that the repeal of the policy meant that she and her partner 'will be able to go out and have drinks together without worrying.'

'The support we’ve received has been amazing,' Hepner told the paper.  'I wasn’t surprised that people were so accepting, but in some cases it has been even celebratory. It’s like nothing has really changed for us, and yet everything has changed.'

Hepner is a gay activist and co-founded the Military Partners and Families Coalition, which advocates for benefits and military programs for same-sex partners.

Smith is not the first gay general officer but most have disclosed their sexual orientation after their retirement or discharge under 'don't ask, don't tell.'

In May, the U.S. Air Force Academy graduated its first openly gay cadets.

Berlin gay pride parade draws 700,000 people

BERLIN - Agence France-Presse

Camp costumes and colorful drag flooded the streets of Berlin on Saturday as hundreds of thousands took part in the city’s annual Christopher Street Day gay pride parade.

Marching and dancing to thumping techno music, the crowds made their way from the cosmopolitan Kreuzberg district to the Brandenburg Gate, where DJs and musicians were scheduled to keep the party going until midnight.

The German capital’s gay mayor, Klaus Wowereit, kicked off the event. Organizers said 700,000 people had taken part in the parade, which celebrated its 34th anniversary this year.

The treatment of homosexuals in Russia was a hot topic at the parade, with some participants bearing giant portraits of President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev retouched in the flamboyant style of gay French artists Pierre and Gilles.

Gay pride parades are banned in Moscow and since 2006 have been systematically dispersed when organizers try to start them.

Homosexuality was a crime in Russia until 1993 and was classified as a mental illness until 1999.

Christopher Street Day parades commemorate the Stonewall uprising of June 28, 1969, when police harassment at a New York gay bar sparked five days of rioting that launched the U.S. gay rights movement.

Israelis flock by the thousands to Tel Aviv's annual Gay Pride Parade

Speaking at the event, attended by thousands of tourists U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro says: Human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights.

By Ilan Lior

Thousands of people participated in Tel Aviv's 14th Gay Pride Parade on Friday, including many tourists arrived in Israel to attend the annual gay pride week-long events.

The parade got underway in Gan Meir park, following an event which marked the conclusion of the week-long carnival in Israel's largest city. Among the speakers were top political and municipal officials, including U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro.

Opposition leader Shelly Yachimovich (Labor) said that "on this joyful day there's a need to remember that we have only completed a part of the long way ahead of us." Yachimovich added that the call for gay rights and for social justice is identical: "it's the same fight. You will never march alone."

Meretz chair Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) accused politicians, rabbis and other public figures in discriminating against the gay community, asking them to follow Obama's lead: "next time there's a vote on a bill for civilian marriage, which included same-sex marriage, don't oppose it, endorse it."

Wearing a t-shirt depicting the gay pride flag, U.S. envoy Shapiro addressed the crowd in Hebrew, saying that "this is a day to celebrate and rejoice. Human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights." Also mentioning Obama, Shapiro said that the U.S. administration is showing dedication in removing the obstacles on the way to equality.

After marching the streets of Tel Aviv, the parade reached its peak in a huge beach party at Gordon Beach.