We are active duty and veteran gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers, sailors,Marines, airmen, and members of the Coast Guard who are currently serving and who have served – some in silence, some with the open support of our comrades – in defense of our nation. We include service men and women who graduated at the top of our classes at the service academies and enlisted at recruitment centers around the country. Some of our members have lost their lives in service to their country.

There have been many predictions regarding how gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members will behave after “don’t ask, don’t tell” is repealed and fully non-discriminatory standards of behavior are implemented. These predictions represent, in some cases, fear mongering and lack of understanding. We submit the following to clarify what service members should expect from their gay, lesbian, and bisexual brothers and sisters in arms, and to articulate what we believe to be reasonable expectations about our ongoing professionalism in defense of our nation:

1) We are service members first. Our overriding operational imperative is to do everything in our power to sustain team cohesion, to maintain trust and loyalty between Commanders and those they command, and to provide positive examples of ethical behavior to all of our fellow service members.

2) We believe that sexual orientation is merely one facet of individual identity. As a consequence, we seek to be accepted as equals while conducting ourselves with the same professionalism regarding our personal lives. Those actions, which serve to create an uncomfortable or hostile work environment, are as wrong when coming from a gay individual as from a heterosexual.

3) Social conventions regarding public displays of mutual affection should apply equally to couples of the same and opposite sexes. Military couples recognize that open displays of affection can be viewed as inappropriate in any context and that service men and women have a responsibility to represent themselves in discreet ways.

4) Breaches of professional decorum can and should be handled at the Command level, as individuals can be counseled about appropriate behaviors in the Service environment. As service members grow in their role as leaders, Command should afford them the opportunity to grow and learn about what it means to be a military professional.

5) As with any repeated unprofessional behavior, if inappropriate conduct – by heterosexuals or gays and lesbians – continues, other options can and should be considered, particularly in instances in which Commanders view the behavior as a consistent breach of commonly accepted norms of professionalism.

6) These values of professionalism should extend to the full range of military functions, including official and semi- official functions, overseas deployments, training environments, and any context in which service members and their partners might interact with one another in the spirit of collaboration, camaraderie, service, and mutual support. Contrary to those who would spread fear about the consequences of change, we value unit cohesion and aim to do everything in our power to support it.

Upon certification and repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the subsequent implementation of fully non-discriminatory standards of behavior and enforcement, all service members can expect that their gay, lesbian and bisexual colleagues will continue to conduct themselves in the same exemplary fashion that has governed our conduct thus far.

JD Smith, Co-Director, OutServe*

Ty Walrod, Co-Director and civilian spokesperson, OutServe*

Jeff Petrie, USNA ‘89, Chair, Service Academy Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association**

Becky Kanis, West Point ’91, Chair, KnightsOut***

Greg Mooneyham USAFA ’87, Executive Director, Blue Alliance****

*OutServe is a network or approximately 450 active-duty soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and members of the Coast Guard. JD Smith is a pseudonym. **SAGALA is a professional network of 435 gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual cadets, midshipmen and alumni who attended one of the five federal Service Academies. *** Knights Out is an organization of West Point alumni, staff and faculty who are united in supporting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender soldiers to openly serve their country. The group has 203 members and graduate supporters and 462 allies.****Blue Alliance is an organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy