USNA Out

Annapolis, Maryland - USNA Out Chair Brian Bender ’93 attended this year's Outreach Conference February 26-28. The title of this year's conference was “Answering the Call: Encouraging STEM Education for the Next Generation.” The conference had a split theme this year: Strategic Outreach review and recruiting future midshipmen and officers with aptitude in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

MORE THAN 115 of 190 for whom we had email addresses have already taken part in the current study!

We learned some really eye-opening things about ourselves when we began gathering information last year as part of establishing the profile of the typical LGBT Annapolis Alumnus. But our numbers have grown significantly since the “Out of Annapolis” trailer hit YouTube last year. The “revaildation” of the survey will allow for many more of the members to participate as well as discover or confirm other key facts about the alumni as a group that had not been previously considered. The revalidation will also continue to ensure the data are squeaky clean.

Here are some of the facts that we know about ourselves as a group. This is the information that we will fine tune through the revalidation:

Less than one in every eight of us LGBT USNA alumni had fully "accepted" our sexual identity as LGBT before we took the oath of office to enter the military. Many had no idea what they were going to face in the future as they reidentified as LGBT at Annapolis, in the Fleet or later in life. For classes prior to 2000, twenty percent actually got married not fully realizing at the time it wasn't right for them, and later ended those marriages.

LGBT alumni enter into individual warfare specialities at the same proportions as their straight peers. But the Marine Officers on the whole are the ones who have the most difficult time coming to grips with their sexuality. Even when “Don‘t Ask, Don‘t Tell” ends, DADT is still going to be the way of life in the Marine Corps, no Marine alumni intend on changing. All of the known suicides of LGBT alumni were Marine Officers.

Those who did identify as LGBT when they entered had a different set of challenges to face, but they were more likely to serve out their commitments. Less than one-percent felt that their LGBT status had put them into a position to be blackmailed by a co-worker."

The various data are included throughout the film as it relates to individual members as they tell their stories.

If you are an LGBT alumni of USNA (alumni means took oath of office as a midshipman, whether or not you graduated) and would like to participate, please contact the study director here at USNA Out.

One of the accomplishments that USNA Out can put under their belt for 2009 was the completion of the 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Charitable and Educational Organization filing with the Internal Revenue Service. This was the logical follow up step to gaining our incorporation in the State of Maryland last fall. The application is lengthy with over 50 pages of attachments. Thanks to Steve Clark Hall ’75, who when the package was complete, helped do a page by page review to ensure nothing was missed. We are hoping that the application will be approved without requiring supplemental information.

USNA Out'ers join SAGALA members
at the Army-Navy 2009 Tailgate
©2009 Jo Ann Santangelo photographer

Many of the usual suspects returned for Army-Navy 2009.

The weekend began at a "Welcome to Philly" reception at the home of USNA Out member Joe Soto. More than a dozen alumni from West Point, Annapolis and New London made it to town in time for the Friday night affair. Thank goodness for the late afternoon 14:30 kick-off time for the game.

USNA Out members chat with
PA Congressman Patrick Murphy
who stopped in at the tailgate.
©2009 Jo Ann Santangelo
photographer

This year, we thank the Knights Out of West Point for taking charge of orchestrating a great Tailgate brunch before the game. For the first time, the Army and Navy were represented in equal numbers.

A few USNA Out members made the trek to Philadelphia to join us for the first time. Braxton Sisco '95 flew in from Dallas, Texas, bringing along his mother-in-law while his partner finishes studying in the UK. An alumni from '00, who first learned about USNA Out by googling "army navy gay tailgate" (it works, as usual) came down from New York with a friend.

An additional SF Bay Area Chapter/USNA Out game watching event was held at the North Star cafe in San Francisco. More coming when we have photos/reports.

Here's what we know of so far. If you have more events that need to be added to this story, please contact our webmaster:

Philadelphia: USNA Out will be joining Knights Out at the Knights Out tailgate in the parking lot. Look for the Knights Out guidon & banner. There are other SAGALA events on Friday and

USNA Out Members,

Yesterday you received news from Jeff Petrie via email that USNA Out is in transition - making positive strides forward and organizing to even more effectively meet our shared objectives and mission.

New Interactive Roster

Just as USNA Out was grown over the past six years, so has the content on our website. Thanks to the critical eye of USNA Out Board Secretary Eric Shangle '97, content has just been reorganized to make material easier to find.

The best new feature is the new "Member Roster" -- Viewable in Alfa Order! Searchable! Sortable! And complete with little thumbnail pics of our members. For registered USNA Out members only. The "Members Roster" will appear as the top "Inside USNA Out" menu item when you log into our website. Members are allow to share as much info about them as they desire, or can even “opt-out” of appearing on the roster all together.

Petaluma art gallery owners Donna(L)
and USNA Out's Linda receiving the
Small Business of the Year award from
State Senator Mark Leno.

Last year, 2008 a few USNA Out members collected at the Pelican Art Gallery on a beautiful day in Petaluma to enjoy the annual Veteran's Day Parade. It is a very sweet event in the San Francisco North Bay that draws veterans and their families from around the Bay Area. USNA Out member Linda Postenrieder and

Today the Denver Post reported that Rick Glen Strandlof, a former mental patient who posed as a wounded Marine captain and graduate of the US Naval Academy, is being prosecuted under the Stolen Valor Act for making claims he received a Purple Heart.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13475253

On June 8th, an article appeared on page 10 of The New York Times about Richard G. Strandlof, who had for months taken on the identity of Rick Duncan, a gay Iraq war veteran who claimed to be a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy. Has has made other appearances such as on CNN's "AC360"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/us/08phony.html?ref=us
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/11/veteran.imposter/index.html?eref=rss...

Some more basic facts as we knew them:

USNA Out members Brian Bender '93,
Steve Clark Hall '75 and Joe Soto '83
chat with the Brigade Staff

Three members of USNA Out -- Steve Clark Hall '75, Joe Soto '83 and Brian Bender '93 (all part of the Out of Annapolis gang) attended the USNA Foundation's 2009 “President's Circle” Weekend in Annapolis. This was the fourth straight year that USNA Out members have attended this special weekend hosted by the USNA Alumni Association and Foundation to recognize the generosity and support from alumni. USNA Out members who are logged onto this website can read a special USNA Out members only report of the weekend. We could not have felt more welcome by the Alumni Association Staff and

Joe Soto '83 with Barb
still dry before running the
Annapolis 10 Miler 8/30/2009

USNA Out was running around Annapolis this weekend. At the race itself we got VIP parking right in front of the stadium for the tailgater. Smokin' Joe ran a 76 and I had a PR of 1:46 despite the heat and humidity. Duh, it is August in Annapolis.

The day began with a power outage as I was putting in my contact lenses. (My fellow myopes-try putting them in by moonlight next time--it ain't easy.) The weather at the start was 75 degrees and overcast--just a tease. At mile 3 (for me) the sunglasses went on as the sun beat down and cranked up the temps on King George St. The eventual winner blew past everybody (even the pace car at one point) and won by a 5 minute margin in 49 minutes. I saw him go by as we were on the bridge. Me at mile 4 and he at mile 8. Young whipper-snappers. The ice cold towels and the finisher's shirts at the end are the best. Thanks to Jeff, MC and Kap who woke up early and rooted us on.

USNA Out leading the contingent
6/28/2009

On Sunday June 28th 2009, the 40th anniversary of the historic Stonewall Riots, history was made once again as, for the first time, a service academy GLBT alumni group marched proudly and openly as an official contingent in a gay pride parade. Three members of USNA Out (Jim Maguire ’88, Eric Shangle ’97 and Greer Puckett ’75) were among the 35 total members, family and allies of Knights Out, West Point’s GLBT alumni organization, who marched up Market Street during Sunday morning’s San Francisco Gay Pride Parade.

Jeff Petrie '89
and Trey Rhiddlehoover '89,
pose with other gay service
academy alumni at
Farragut Square 6/27/2009

Although most, if not all, of the USNA Out members want to see an early end to the outdated, cruel and harmful "Don't Ask Don't Tell" Policy, political activism is not within the primary mission of this alumni group. We are here for the support of each other and those who follow our footsteps as Midshipmen and Officers in the US Navy and Marine Corps.

As of June 27, 2009 there have been an estimated 265 LGBT discharges from the military since President Barack Obama took office. That equates to about two discharges per day. Eight USNA Out members were there the march to remind the Commander-in-Chief of his promise to change the policy that hurts our military and damages our nation's international reputation. See Trey Rhiddlehoover '89, and Jeff Petrie '89 in the image taken with other gay service academy alumni in Farragut Square in downtown Washington, where the march began.

USNA Out at the Annapolis
10 Mile Race in 2008

Registration is open for the Annapolis 10 Miler. http://www.active.com/framed/event_detail.cfm?CHECKSSO=0&EVENT_ID=1724870 Since this is a great race registration fills up usually within 10 days, so sign up right now. It is well supported from the race directors, the town of Annapolis and the mids. The shirt for the finishers looks great and worth the price of running 10 miles. (Check out our jackets--festive!)

Please let me know when you do register or if you would like to participate in a supporting role as cheerleader or tailgater.

See you in Annapolis,
Barb

USNA Out at Graduation
Joe Soto '83, Jeff Petrie '89
Frank McNeil '83, Reeta Whitney '82
and Skip Muller '96

It was truly an honor for 25 USNA Out members, partners, and friends to attend the graduation ceremony for the Naval Academy's Class of 2009. Because it is difficult to put this intense experience to words, I will let the images will speak for themselves.

Read more and see more

Our sister school LGBT Alumni group has been slammed with visits to their website ever since the press release on 3/17 (USMA Founder's Day) stating that they are here and queer and ready to take charge when DADT falls. Lt Daniel Choi (USMA '03) appeared on the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC two nights in a row.

As of 3/20, Knights Out have had over 8,000 unique visitors to their website. The attention that they have garnered has thrown them into the lead for "initial members" -- now 46 members, exceeding the 29 of USNA Out and the 14 of the Blue Alliance at their inceptions combined! This phenomena could probably be rephrased as "West Point is now the gayest of all the federal service academies."

It was a VERY busy week for USNA Out members in DC & Annapolis. Check back soon for posted reports and photos and perhaps a few videos of the weeks events.

Knights Out new Website launched 1 February 2009

It's about time. A little more than five years after USNA Out made its initial debut, a new group of open LGBT West Point alumni has finally formed. Most of the founding members have been long-term members of the joint service academy gay and lesbian alumni network SAGALA.net. The new "Out" group has chosen the name "Knights Out" and has incorporated in the State of Delaware. Stay tuned to yet another Army-Navy rivalry. Within the first three days, "Knights Out" signed on more "founding members" than did the "Blue-Alliance" of the US Air Force Academy at its inception, and as of 16 February they have now surpassed the initial membership numbers of USNA Out! Go Navy!!

Filming for the documentary “Out of Annapolis” began in late October 2008 on the Yard of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Filming of the individual participant interviews began in November, and by January, about fifty percent of the planned interviews have been filmed, primarily in locations along the Eastern Seaboard between Philadelphia and Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Producer Steve Clark Hall '75 will return

USNA Out members Eric Shangle '97,
Lee Ingleright '97, Jeff Petrie '89
Joe Soto '83, and Steve Clark Hall '75
at the SAGALA Army Navy Tailgater

Army-Navy Weekend 2008 will go down in military history as one of The Best Ever!

USNA Out members were joined by our fellow Alumni, friends and families from West Point, New London and Kings Point for a long weekend of festivities surrounding the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia.

USNA Out Members who are logged in as members can read more about this weekend from Jeff.

USNA Out members Jeff Petrie '89
Joe Soto '83 & Eric Shangle '97
with SUPT VADM Fowler
^{USNA Alumni Assn photo by Debbie Latta}

USNA Out members Jeff Petrie '89,
Joe Soto '83, Steve Clark Hall '75
USNA Out friend Thomas Strenge '97
^{USNA Alumni Assn photo by Debbie Latta}

Four members of USNA Out -- Steve Clark Hall '75, Joe Soto '83, Eric Shangle '97 and Jeff Petrie '89, attended the USNA Foundation's 2008 President's Circle Weekend in Annapolis. In addition to an awesome comeback win by Navy over Temple in football, all four attendees agreed that we had a truly successful weekend and a great time!

This was the third straight year in which USNA Out Members attended the President's Circle Weekend events. Eric Shangle '97 and his classmate Thomas were the only two attendees who had graduated in the past 15 years. Because of our relative youth among the participants, USNA Out members stood "OUT" in the crowd.

USNA Out member Eric Shangle '97
with Classmate Thomas Strenge '97
at the Halloween reception in the
new Westly Brown Field House
^{USNA Alumni Assn photo by Debbie Latta}

The events of the weekend serve to recognize and thank major donors the the USNA Foundation. The ambitious schedule included business meetings, cocktail receptions, tours of facilities, the final Fall Formal Dress Parade, and a delightful "Halloween Concert" in the chapel featuring the Naval Academy choruses performing to the accompaniment of the mighty M.P. Möller pipe organ.

Lou Adissi '88 and
Deric Camarigg '88 at their
20th Reunion

Hello,

Just a quick update on my 20 year Reunion held last week. First off we beat Rutgers. Go Navy!!! Not that I watched the game. My classmates and I were behind the scoreboard drinking like fish and catching up on 20 years.

I will say I was a little nervous going back being gay and all those fears were alleviated fast. Everyone knew and everyone was asking where my partner was. I was more aware that I was single than being the only gay guy there. Well it turns out I wasn't the only gay guy. Deric Camarigg was there, as seen in the photo.

This was my first reunion, and I will never miss one again. I can't wait for the 25th, and I recommend you do your best to attend your reunions. It brought back so many good memories and it was wonderful to see my buddies doing so well.

BEAT ARMY!!!!
Lou '88

USNA Out members
Heather Davies '93, Joe Soto '83
and Lindsay Hawkins '00 before the
Annapolis 10 mile race

Runners and cheerleaders spent a weekend in Annapolis USNA Out style! The race course is challenging but not impossible. (Don't let the hills spook you!) The race was one of the best organized and well-supported races in which I have participated. My admiration to the other runners, Joe, Heather and Lindsay who trained during a steamy hot summer. Thanks to Paula and Mel who put together the best tailgater complete with decorations. And thanks to Jeff and Trey who woke up early on a Sunday and unleashed their inner cheerleader.

Seeing the Yard through the eyes of others from USNA Out is incredibly enlightening and inspiring. I arrived back home with warm, wonderful memories and a stomach ache from all of the gut-busting laughter. I hope you all can join us one way or another next year. Here's a re-cap from the other USNA Out, Annapolis 10 Miler Finishers in their own words.

It's a go! "Out Of Annapolis" will begin filming in November 2008. Leave it to a group of Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Bisexual US Naval Academy alumni to put together a major team effort for producing a documentary film. The production staff will consist entirely of USNA Alumni and their partners.

This film will explore the lives of the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Bisexual US Naval Academy alumni, most who still have very strong ties to the academy. They will share their experiences of living within the policies of gays in the military, both pre- and post- Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell and share how the policies so affected their lives and careers.

How about a little motivation to stay in shape throughout the summer? USNA Out is recruiting you to run in the Annapolis 10 Miler at the end of August. If you are not a runner, then come out and be a cheerleader or a tailgate host. Jeff has already promised cosmos at the finish!

Check out the info page at: http://annapolisstriders.org/A10Info2008.htm (The finishers jacket is worth the price of running 10 miles)

Barb has looked into getting "USNA Out" micro fiber shirts printed for the event. Cost will depend on the quantity ordered but will be $20 or less. Even if you are not running or cheering and would like a shirt, let her know.

Ralph Brunson '81 and Jeff Petrie '89
dining in King Hall

In early May 2008 the Naval Academy hosted its 10th Annual Admissions Outreach Conference. The title of this year's event was, "Diversity: Built on a Solid Foundation, Forging a Stronger Future." USNA Out members joined in on the discussion.

Campus Pride at US San Diego

USNA Out participated in the second-ever college admissions fair aimed at LGBT high schoolers at UC San Diego. For most of the 45 participating colleges -- such as Princeton University, Stanford University, Yale, Penn State, and UC San Diego -- the event was a perfect opportunity for them to advertise their fair and equal policies in recruiting the best and brightest of young gay Americans. USNA Out members attended to informed young gay Americans of the pros and cons of pursuing an appointment to a United States service academy.

Left Coast - Paul Culver '74,
Linda Postenrieder '82, Jeff Petrie '89 (seated)
Steve Clark Hall '75, Eric Shangle '97,
Greer Pucket '75, Joe Soto '83

The second USNA Out "National Meeting" was held on Army-Navy Friday, 30 November 2007 in Memorial Hall. Seven alumni were able to attend the a second "Left Coast Edition" of the national meeting held in San Francisco on Sunday, 16 December.

Joe Soto '83 with some of the Midshipmen
attending the Superintendent's Garden Party

USNA Out members Joe Soto '83 and Steve Clark Hall '75 attended the USNA President's Circle Weekend events in Annapolis. This is the second President's Circle weekend where representatives from USNA Out have attended.