DADT (was Re: Seasons Greetings,)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: Cynthia Phillips
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Hi Annie,

Just a question for yoou, honey:

Now that don't ask, don't tell has been 86'd and gays can now openly
serve their country, and we can expect further legislation in the civil
rights structure of legalities for us all, etc. etc. Would you care to
comment on your opinions of how this is going to affect Diva???

Do you see any restructure of Diva policy, guidelines, bathroom, dress
code, hotels, events, anything that might be subject to change as a
result of this new legislation?

I myself currently live in V.A. subsidized housing and know for a fact
that it is going to affect V.A. policy: healthcare, benefits, housing,
etc. etc. completely across the board, which will affect agecies serving
the V.A. etc. etc. It has been on the minds of thousands of veterans
for decades.

Casinos too have been way ahead on this issue for years, they have an
uncanny way of seeing things in the future. How is this going to affect
Diva? Any thoughts??

Oh, and Happy Holidays to us all !!

Cynthia Phillips

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(This posting was entered by Cynthia Phillips, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: Sindee Honey
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As long as transexualism is a disorder in the DSM military service is
not in the cards for us.

Again GLB interests are served and T remains in the background. Not
b*thch*ng just stating the obvious.

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(This posting was entered by Sindee Honey, an external user of MyDLV.)

[External Poster]

This posting is from: LeAnna
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Well just to tell every one that the VA administration has gotten a new CEO
some time ago and he is already made a lot new policy's and GLBT are
included .So in spite of what you have heard or a story you may have read
there will be changes and I must say for the better.It is going to take time
as the biggest change is the treatment for the new wounded coming back

LeAnna

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(This posting was entered by LeAnna, an external user of MyDLV.)

[annie]

> Now that don't ask, don't tell has been 86'd and gays can now openly
> serve their country, and we can expect further legislation in the civil
> rights structure of legalities for us all, etc. etc. Would you care to
> comment on your opinions of how this is going to affect Diva???

First of all, even though the repeal of DADT has passed both houses and will certainly be signed by the President, it's not a done deal yet. There are a number of hoop-jumps that will need to occur for the repeal of DADT to be in force.

> Do you see any restructure of Diva policy, guidelines, bathroom, dress
> code, hotels, events, anything that might be subject to change as a
> result of this new legislation?

Very little, if any.

The Good Thing is that (assuming it is not derailed) the repeal of DADT is a step forward for GLBT folks as a whole.

The whole set of issues which are not addressed in either the ca. 1993 DADT act nor the 2010 repeal are those surrounding TG people in the armed forces.

You'll notice that G, L, and arguably B are covered, but not T. I know that at the time, the original DADT act (which itself was considered to be a step forward at the time) did not mention the term "transgender" or any variants. I haven't read the repeal text, but my hunch is that TGs are not mentioned there either.

The issue of TGs in the service is a whole different can of worms.

> Casinos too have been way ahead on this issue for years, they have an
> uncanny way of seeing things in the future. How is this going to affect
> Diva? Any thoughts??

Casinos follow the law and the money, not necessarily in that order. Casinos are not known as being particularly socially responsible nor active in issues of human rights.

If the management of a casino thinks it will improve cash flow to go after the GLBT market, as Paris has actively done, then they will do it. I see the Paris action as a "trial balloon" for the Harrahs organization to see how it goes.

I think that some have the perception that casinos tend to be TG-friendly from the fact that they are equal-opportunity as far as "everyone's money is equally green" is concerned.

If TGs contribute to a casino's bottom line, they are welcome guests.

If a TG threatens the bottom line, then said TGs are non grata. Unfortunately we've seen a few examples of this.