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Out Gay Man Touted for Secretary of the Navyby Kilian MelloyThursday Dec 18, 2008 Top-tier officers, along with some lawmakers, are promoting an openly gay man for the post of Secretary of the Navy in the Obama administration.
A Dec. 18 article at the Washington Post reports that the COO of the Intrepid Museum Foundation, a gay civilian named William White, is being touted as a good pick for the position.
However, opponents of the idea of White as Secretary of the Navy say that having a gay man, even a civilian, in a top military-related position would carry unwelcome baggage: the military’s ban on openly gay troops.
That issue has not dampened the praise White has received from retired officers such as Gen. Hugh Shelton, the Washington Times reported.
Gen. Shelton served for four years as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In his view, White "would be phenomenal" in the job.
Some Democratic lawmakers agree.
One White supporter is Jerrold Nadler, a New York congressman. The U.S.S. Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that has long been converted into a New York City museum and recently was the subject of an extensive repair and refit operation, is moored on the Hudson River, at Pier 86, in Nadler’s district.
Said Nadler of White, who oversaw fundraising to repair the Intrepid and nearby piers, "He’s very capable."
According to the Intrepid’s Web site, White has been involved with the museum since 1991, when he was solicited by philanthropist Zachary Fisher to help with fundraising.
Says the Web site’s text, "In 1992 White came to Intrepid full-time, managing all fundraising and business development.
"He is responsible for planning, marketing and executing special fundraising events, which have included benefit dinners honoring world leaders such as Presidents Clinton, Bush and Reagan, Prime Ministers Rabin and Thatcher, and President Yeltsin, as well as corporate and military leaders."
Adds the text, "White has generated millions of dollars in new government and private support for Intrepid, and led in the 1996 restructuring of Museum management and in establishing a corporate operational philosophy."
White also has played a leadership role in the Fisher Houses, accommodations for the families of injured U.S. servicemembers named after Zachary Fisher and his wife Elizabeth, both of whom are now deceased.
For some, however, the question of individual qualification is not the whole picture. Opponents worry that appointing an openly gay man as Secretary of the Navy would be politically inexpedient, even though the post is not military in and of itself.
Anti-gay organization the Center for Military Readiness president Elaine Donnelly was quoted in the article as saying, "It’s a matter of judgment, and I think that would be very poor judgment on the part of the commander in chief."
Claimed Donnelly, "It would be very demoralizing to the troops."
The original rationale for the ban on openly gay servicemembers was that allowing gay troops who are honest and forthright about their sexual orientation would erode military cohesiveness and discipline.
But more recently, gay troops have served in Iraq without making a particular secret of their sexuality, with no demoralization of their peers having resulted.
Dismissing the idea that the civilian post of Secretary of the Navy should be filled by a heterosexual man to protect troop morale as "nonsense," Rep. Nadler pointed out that, "he’s not in the foxhole, he’s not on the ship."
As for supporting the troops and their morale, Gen. Shelton identified White as a "legendary" friend of American men and women in uniform.
Said the general of White, "He has always been a staunch advocate of our men and women in uniform."
The President-Elect has received plaudits from the GLBT community for including openly gay and lesbian individuals in his transition team.
President-Elect Obama also named a proponent of a school for gay students, Chicago chief of schools Arne Duncan, as his Secretary of Education, drawing approval from GLBT Americans and criticism from conservatives.
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
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