Meet America's first openly gay general
Army reserve officer Tammy Smith is promoted to brigadier general and publicly acknowledges her sexuality for the first time.
A lot has changed since the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and some things have stayed the same, but Friday marked a new milestone in the months since the ban on gays serving openly in the military was repealed: The appointment of the first openly gay general.
As Stars and Stripes' Leo Shane III reports, Army reserve officer Tammy Smith has been promoted to brigadier general, but that wasn't her only headline: "She is also publicly acknowledging her sexuality for the first time, making her the first general officer to come out as gay while still serving," Shane writes. Besides being the most senior military figure to come out as gay, she has now been assigned as deputy chief at the Office of the Chief at the Army Reserve.
"All of those facts are irrelevant," Smith told the newspaper. "I don’t think I need to be focused on that. What is relevant is upholding Army values and the responsibility this carries."