This Easter, I am officially joining the Episcopal Church and becoming a member of St. Paul’s Cathedral. One of the things I enjoy most about St. Paul’s is its broad inclusivity and its commitment to social justice.
As some of you know, I am currently getting my Master’s in Social Work from the University of Southern California. I attend classes at their San Diego Academic Center in Rancho Bernardo, which is also the home of their unique Military Social Work concentration. It’s the only center of its kind in the United States. I grew up in a military family, my father served for 21 years as an officer in the US Air Force.It wasn’t until I began my studies at USC that I realized that the military is a community and culture of it’s own, and that it shaped who I am in meaningful ways.
I was also raised in a very conservative Christian home. As you can imagine, being gay within these two combined cultures was not easy. In fact, it was often very difficult.
Over the past couple of months, I worked with a team of my colleagues from school on a project. Our goal was to identify and advocate on behalf of person(s) who were marginalized or needed assistance. With the recent decision to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), we chose lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) service members. Initially we thought we’d find a few local gay and lesbian service members and see how we might help. That would’ve satisfied the requirements of the project. We were excited to get started.
We began networking with LGB service members we knew, as well as a few key contacts in leadership in various branches of the armed services. We quickly learned that the people most affected by the repeal of DADT have no voice be because they can’t safely self-identify until after all of the repeal efforts are over. This also means that leadership in the armed services had no way to communicate with them and understand their needs and concerns. We also discovered that most service members – LGB and non-LGB – had no idea what was really going on with the repeal efforts. We held a focus group with 15 local LGB service members and asked them how we could help. It was decided that a website might be the best way to reach people because it was anonymous and easy to access from anywhere. We needed to incorporate as much information, by service branch, as possible to make sure people could stay up to date. We wanted to include frequently asked questions and answers, a blog, opportunities to share your stories and a formal research poll to learn more from all service members about DADT and related topics.
Clearly this was no longer a school project, it was the beginning of a new organization.
Thus the Military Acceptance Project (MAP) was born. Our mission is to pave the way to a broader acceptance of all former, current and future service members – especially those marginalized for any reason. Currently our focus in on LGB service members and the repeal of DADT. We do this on our website by providing information, support and communications related to the repeal of DADT. We also serve as a safe conduit for communication between LGB service members and the branches of the service. As an organization, we have no partisan or political affiliations or agendas. We are not affiliated with the Department of Defense or any branch of the military. Because of this, service members can feel free to ask questions, as well as share their concerns and criticisms safely and anonymously.
We launched our new site, www.militaryacceptanceproject.org, on Friday, April 1, 2011 and the result has been truly astounding. In just over one week, we reached nearly 3000 people.
Over 115 service members have taken the anonymous poll and we have begun to receive personal stories from service members who have served under DADT. The need for a resource like this is clearly there, and I am truly grateful to be part of the work we are doing. Ultimately, we want to serve the needs of anyone marginalized while serving their country beyond LGB service members. For example, we may find that muslim service members are discriminated against and work to support them.
I invite you to check out the website for yourself and encourage you to share it with your friends and loved ones – especially if they are service connected in any way.
Feel free to contact me if you’d like to learn more, get involved or donate to our work.
Jasper Kump
