Lesbian Army Wife at Ft. Bragg Dubbed Base’s ‘Spouse of the Year’
January 25, 2013 by Maureen McCarty, HRC Senior Digital Strategist
Ashley Broadway, who made headlines after she was denied membership to the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses (ABOS), was voted Fort Bragg’s 2013 “spouse of the year.”
The online election, which began on Tuesday, is an annual, national vote that spans nominees from all military branches.
The Association initially claimed Broadway did not qualify for membership because she did not have a military ID card. Under Department of Defense regulations, only opposite-sex spouses of service members are eligible to receive a military ID card.
Last week ABOS extended “guest membership” to Broadway while they review the bylaws, according to the organization’s president.
HRC is, in addition to calling on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to issue military IDs to same-sex spouses, urging him to extend every possible benefit not specifically barred by the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
The revisions would ensure same-sex spouses in the military receive the same benefits afforded all other service members.
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