JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON (BAMC Public Affairs June 26, 2015) -- Brooke Army Medical Center and the Institute of Surgical Research held their first event to commemorate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month today.
Brig. Gen. Tammy Smith, deputy chief of staff, Army Reserve, was the guest speaker for the event, which was attended by her wife, Tracy, and a large number of BAMC and ISR staff.
"Inclusion and diversity matter because of what we do in the military. We have to be able to compete for the best talent. It's a tough competition," Smith said.
"We have to make sure on all fronts that we know that we welcome all talented people regardless of their background, regardless of where they come from, regardless of what their family is, regardless of who they love."
The general said she believes the Pride celebration is a celebration of authenticity. "It's about the ability to be authentic, so when we celebrate Pride we are actually celebrating the fact that we value our people."
Smith explained that Pride Month is celebrated in June to coincide with the Stonewell Riots, which occurred June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
"The Stonewall Riots are considered the starting point of the modern gay rights revolution," she said.
Smith spoke about her military career and how she felt she had to live two separate lives -- her life at work and her private life.
"I had my set of off-the-grid friends, those were members of the gay and lesbian community, and we lived an entirely separate life from what was our regular life," she said.
"We were so protective of that off-the-grid life that we never gave any of you the opportunity to start a conversation with us about what our life might be outside the workplace. This was just how we lived our compartmentalized life."
She said it became harder for her to separate the two when she met her wife, because she wanted to share her happiness with her coworkers but felt she could not.
"Once you fall in love it's hard to keep those compartments separate," Smith said. "I wanted to share Tracy with the people in my workplace."
Smith said she was about to retire from the military because it was becoming harder for her to separate her personal life from her work life. Then the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy was repealed so she changed her mind. "I felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders," she said.
Later, she was promoted to brigadier general and became the first openly gay general officer serving in the Army.
During Smith's remarks Tracy interrupted to inform everyone that the Supreme Court ruling was announced allowing same-sex couples to marry nationwide. The announcement garnered a standing ovation from the audience as Smith hugged her spouse.
"The intent behind an event such as this is to inform, to educate, to defy stereotypes and maybe to help somebody in the room to examine a closely held bias that they had and maybe see what they are holding as a bias in themselves in a different way," Smith said.
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