President Obama just keeps earning his reputation as the most LGBT-friendly leader ever, as an openly gay nominee of his makes another step toward making history.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved Eric Fanning’s nomination as the next Secretary of the Army, which would make him the first openly gay civilian to lead a military service.
The approval comes six months after President Obama nominated Fanning, who previously served as the Acting Secretary of the Air Force. However, as The Washington Blade reports, full confirmation may be a bit trickier:
Although the committee has approved the nomination, Fanning faces difficulties in obtaining confirmation by the full Senate. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) has placed a hold on the nomination, citing comments President Obama made about closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. A Roberts spokesperson told the Blade on Thursday the hold remains in place.
LGBT military advocacy group OutServe-SLDN is placing their weight behind Fanning, having recently sent a letter and petition with nearly 700 signatures to Roberts. OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Matthew Thorn says Fanning’s credentials are impeccable:
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“From his service as the deputy undersecretary and deputy chief management officer for the Department of the Navy, deputy director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation & Terrorism to most recently serving as the under secretary of the Air Force, acting U.S. Secretary of the Air Force and chief of staff to the secretary of defense his preparedness for this role could not be higher.”
We’ll keep our eyes open for any developments, and we hope the full confirmation is right around the corner so the Senate can go ahead and make some history.
Noël Thibodeau
Bravo!
Will Glitzern
Seems like a great choice
Jeff Hall
This is so cool about timeð???
Brian
If he is a civilian, why is he leading the military? I don’t agree with it.
youarekiddingme
@Brian: A little history lesson for you Brian…The position of Secretary of the Army was created in September 1947. Since the inception of the CIVILIAN POSITION, there have been 30 people appointed as the secretary. Of the total, 11 have had NO MILITARY EXPERIENCE! Fanning will be the 12th.
Just a little FYI: George W. Bush (your republican hero) appointed 3 Secretary’s of the Army with NO MILITARY EXPERIENCE: Joseph W. Westphal, Francis J. Harvey and Pete Geren.
So, a civilian leads the military as Secretary of the Army…that’s why there is a Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff (Military), and Chief of Staff of the United States Army (US Army 4 Star or possibly 5 Star General…in wartime).
So, the MILITARY person leading the military would be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. You always have a civilian to avoid conflicts of interest…understand?
Petra Madero
😉
Billysees
Good comments —
” Seems like a great choice. ”
” This is so cool about time???? “
Billysees
@youarekiddingme:
Thanks for the history lesson.
Dakotahgeo
I so hope Pat Roberts is ‘invited’ to go on a ‘hunting’ trip in Texas, preferably with former VP Cheney-kov!
LubbockGayMale
Congrats! but if they are willing to confirm a gay to lead the military, why can’t they take the next step and confirm BHO’s SCOTUS nominee?
greenmusic23f
@youarekiddingme: Thanks for clarifying. I knew there were non-military military leaders, but hadn’t thought about why, or for how long.
youarekiddingme
@greenmusic23f: Certainly. I think Fanning will make an exemplary Seretary of the Army by the way.
spemat
They should look at history and anthropologists and their assessment of empires in the ancient times where poly bisexuality as a norm made them survive and better at genocide than the ones who weren’t because all of that erasure and rage and our obsessions as bis with each other about ancient Greece, Rome, Persia, India and Japan where lovers fighting at homes as “amazon women” and men at war kept invaders out and the men better at killing everyone, robbing them and they survived for centuries… this isn’t even PC rainbow flag crap, anthropology cites these empires in many papers and note that the only orientation applicable as the dominant norm is poly bisexuality.
We could empower, embrace our historic roots and maybe do better. But even with gay men too. Bisexuality or homosexuality doesn’t equal weak by far. I ended up in jail in my late teens early 20s and I was feared by most of the place etc and nobody sold me and since I was hot and had the hottest girlfriend in the place, I made sure I said, I only fuck with top shelf men and not garbage jail dick. I never got raped and if I was hit on, the next morning my roommate had blackened eyes… there aren’t cute dudes in that place.