Sunday, December 9, 2012

Out Spotlight

Today's Out Spotlight is last West Point cadet discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). They are a 2012 Yale graduate. With the repeal of DADT, they enlisted in the Army as an officer. Today's Out Spotlight is Katherine Miller.

Born November 13, 1989, Katherine Miller was raised in Ohio in a conservative military family.  Her dream was to become an officer in the Army.

In 2008, she enrolled at West Point and excelled as a cadet, ranking in the top one percent of her class.  At the end of her second year she was the ninth-ranked Cadet in her class of 1,157,  had a grade point average of 3.829 out of 4.0, and  scored as high as 367 on the military's fitness test, beating the theoretical maximum score of 300 points.  But she did not return for her third year.

She faced hostility from those who believed her to be a lesbian. After two years at the academy, Miller said, “I could not square my integrity with the daily half-truths that came with hiding my sexuality.”

In 2010, Miller came out to her commanders and leaked her letter of resignation to the media, effectively initiating her own discharge. The following day she discussed her decision on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” and became a spokesperson for the repeal of DADT. After her discharge, she transferred to Yale University.

Miller served on the founding board of OutServe, then an underground organization of gay active-duty service members. She represented the organization at major media engagements, most notably escorting Lady Gaga to the MTV Video Music Awards to mobilize viewers for the DADT repeal.

She was the most important lesbian voice in the repeal of DADT. As a tribute to her activism, she was invited to the White House for the signing of the repeal bill in 2011.

Miller was named a Truman Scholar, a Point Foundation Scholar, one of Out magazine’s “Top 100 Influential Men and Women of 2010” and named one of the top 10 college women of 2011 by Glamour Magazine.
She is a board member at OutServe, which is now the largest LGBT employee resource group in the world, with over 5,500 members.

 “It’s about vocalizing what the voiceless cannot say and making visible those who are invisible.” 


 





Happy Hanukkah!!

20 comments:

AUS10 said...

Epic show last night. Trampled By Turtles. The show was sold out. I went in ninja style thru the kitchen. I am an outlaw.
say.ly/cce4KrJ

6:53 PM - 9 Dec 12 · Details

AUS10 said...

Check them out. This song will melt your face. ♫ "Wait So Long" by Trampled by Turtles sdtk.fm/WWVTR3

6:57 PM - 9 Dec 12 · Details

prairiegirl said...

lol, what in the heck? Austy's on a Twitter Tear. Through the kitchen? The kitchen of what? LOL

Trampled by Turtles. I have never heard of such a group. What station does he listen to? ; ) What does that mean exactly, to be trampled by turtles?

prairiegirl said...

Will melt your face? LOLLLLL!! That's pretty good. I like that one. Go, Austin!

prairiegirl said...

I am an outlaw. Yeah, he wishes. Austin, you're only an outlaw when you're playing Fisher Price cowboys with the TT's, aka tiny Texans. lol. You better get home soon - someone's probably needing some relief by now. ; )

Well, may have made the first holiday purchase bust of the season. A Peter, Paul and Mary Concert dvd. I have a friend who just loves it and so I thought it would be a good purchase. PBS, right? That's just about guaranteed good.

Not too sure. Too much folk music! lol. They don't talk in between the songs, yuk it up or chat with the audience. And she's not even wearing anything holiday'ish, she's wearing purple and mauve. No holiday set decorations. It's just strum, song, strum, song, strum, song.

Not finished with it yet, so there's still time for redemption. I wish the music player was working. Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey would be a loud request. Not that Special would have played it. But it wouldn't have hurt to ask. Need to see if Dominick is available as a phone ringtone.

derr said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
prairiegirl said...

Enjoyed the Spotlight today. She gave up a lot but another window opened for her and she played an integral part in making a difference.

destiny said...

I remember seeing her interviewed on Rachel Maddow. I always wondered why she chose to come out when she did, in the middle of school like that. I guess she got caught up in all the activism around repealing DADT.

Methodical Muser said...

Get a load of this recent Blind Item on Taylor Swift:

Why the Good Girl Beards Up

destiny said...

That's quite some story.

But one thing I don't get--is she supposed to never get involved with a guy again? Not to mention there's dating "good" guys who are straight, being more careful about birth control, etc.

goodie two shoes my ass said...

Swift has to have her high profile celebrity boyfriends to sell her crappy songs. She's a complete PR fluff piece. My 14 year niece used to like her until she saw her in concert. Says she can't carry a tune and actually has a mean spirited quality to her monologues when she talks about guys who have supposedly done her wrong. Like someone said before she is a predator. Seeks out vulnerable gay men, makes side deals with their representatives and promotes herself as the good girl next door. She portrays herself as religious, doesn't drink or smoke. Oh yeah and she's a virgin. It makes sense to me that she got pregnant and had an abortion. That's why she goes overboard with the squeaky clean image and tries to convince everyone that every single guy she's dated has done her wrong. She surely is just a little angel. I know from my experience that people trying hard to convince everyone they are sweet and oh so nice are, in fact, the most conniving bitches around. Wouldn't be surprise if she is on the slutty side either. Would explain the virginal image after "dating" how many guys?

AUS10 said...

check out the trailer for RAY DONOVAN - new series on SHOWTIME ---------> youtube.com/watch?v=HeEwqq9EgWssay.ly/wWC4KKF

Dear John said...

This fake relationship with the 1Direction kid is laughable. TS must be a bit mental, I would say, if she doesn't realize how fake her relationships appear. I know that Ted used to call J. Mayer a douchebag in relationship to TS. And of all the fakey hook-ups, Mayer is the one guy I could see being in complete control of Swift. If you read about their dating history, it was Mayer who dished about her and made sarcastic comments about her during his concerts. I think he said once that he was tired of dating girls with daddy issues.

Oh, I just noticed the line, "Like other Good Girls before her". Ha! Mayer dated Jennifer Aniston in 2008-09 and she was in the movie with Jake Gyllenhaal, The Good Girl. Mayer is reportedly bisexual too so the thought that he screwed Swift up in all ways is quite believable.

the bodyguard said...

Back in 2010 when the fauxmance with Jake G. was going strong, there were rumors that she was dating her bodyguard and I believe he was biracial. Her conservative country fans wouldn't like that too much, I expect.

prairiegirl said...

Wow, wow, wow. That's quite a story. I could believe it totally. Would help explain her bitterness and she is one bitter gal towards men and also explain why she doesn't have a "real" relationship in the public eye but only beards. Most women could tell early on that John Mayer was a jerk 1/2.

The thing I don't get is do these celebs not use protection? Are the girls not also on the pill or did they forget for a day or two? I mean, you can't blame ignorance on this. You have to take care of yourself. Yes, accidents can still happen but geez. I really wonder sometimes.

Swift is going to shell her own career. She acts like she's above everything and can do whatever she wants and no one's going to call her out. But people are already getting onto her game. She needs to wise up real quick.

prairiegirl said...

Okay, Peter, Paul and Mary just salvaged my $9.99!!! Puff the Magic Dragon and Blowin' In the Wind. What magical moments. I haven't heard those songs in ages. Music has such incredible power. It reaches across the miles and it can touch the most reclusive of souls. It can connect a roomful of people who may have nothing else in common. What fun it would be to sing on stage like that.

Oh yeah, This Land is Your Land!!! What a great handclapper. A real sing a long.

Thumbs up!

prairiegirl said...

Hey Seaweed, guess what I bought, too. James Taylor's Christmas CD. B&N had it for $4.99. Lovely purchase!

prairiegirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
prairiegirl said...

Congratulations Busy Phillips

Congratulations to Busy Phillips who is expecting her second child along with her husband, Mark. Isn't it funny how several of Jake's closest friends seem to be getting the baby bug. You had Natalie Portman. Robert Downey Jr. Anne Hathaway has been quoted as saying she hopes to join the ranks soon. Now Busy.

from dlisted said...

Michael K on the Haylor and the Taylor Blind Items

The Haylor BI

When you're in a karaoke bar in a year and drunkenly singing the song Taylor Swift wrote about this fake breakup, just remember that the lyrics are all a lie! Taylor Swift lied to you!

I don't know if this blind item is telling the truth, but I do squint my eyes Taylor-style every time I see pictures of Harry Styles strolling out of her hotel. If he really did spend the night with Taylor, he'd come out of the hotel with a face full of tiny hearts that she draw on him with a pink Sharpie when he was passed out asleep. Harry would also come out holding a plastic bag with his frozen panties in them. It isn't a Taylor Swift slumber party until she's stolen a pair of panties out of your bag, dipped 'em in water and froze 'em. So yeah, if they're faking it, her publicist should really pay attention to important details like that.


And the Taylor BI

Let's just pretend this isn't about Taylor Swift and John Mayer and say it's really about Betty White and Rip Torn.

Dlisted