Month: June 2014

A great reason to get other USNA Outers together this weekend.. if you live in one of these metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, LA, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Diego or Washington DC.

Burning Blue, a feature film written, produced and directed by USNA Out member DMW Greer USNA ’80 will be opening on movie screens throughout the country and also released on VOD.

For a list of theaters, visit http://www.burningbluefilm.com/#!theaters/cy8d

About the film

Before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” became law, before Brokeback Mountain was a Short Story, Burning Blue was a Stage Play being performed in cities around the world. Twenty years later Burning Blue is finally an independent film.

Written in 1992 by DMW Greer USNA ’80, a former Naval Aviator, the stage play of Burning Blue premiered to great critical acclaim on the London Fringe at the King’s Head Theater in early 1995 before transferring to The Theatre Royal Haymarket on the West End where the production received two Olivier Awards. Since then, it has been seen by more than 100,000 people in multiple productions around the world from Tel Aviv to Paris. Drawn from the Author’s life, this funny, deeply compelling and tragic love story set against the backdrop of the US Navy was shot entirely in New York City. The roll of John in the film is played by Rob Mayes, USNA ’08.

Our New York area members were able to see a preview screening at the DGA theater in New York and our SF Bay Area members had the opportunity to see the world premier at Frameline in San Francisco last June.

see more about the film: http://www.burningbluefilm.com
Continue reading “6/6/2014 – Burning Blue”

Since 2008, when USNA Out was approached by a third class midshipman not yet a youngster desiring to join us, our online Gouge for LGBT Midshipmen has been a resource available to LBGT and questioning Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. Much of the early emphasis on the Gouge was on how to safely navigate the hazards of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy which was not well understood by any of the mids. With each lesson learned, we would update the Gouge with additional guidance to keep the LGBT Midshipmen on track for a successful time at USNA and beyond. As USNA Out took on a significant role as mentors, advisors and counselors, the Gouge included more and more issues dealing with LGBT life issues, including coming out at USNA.

When “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed in 2011, 60% of the Gouge was extracted as no longer necessary. But the Gouge continued to be an important resource for the LGBT-Q midshipmen and was amended as we learned more about the difficulties of being LGBT in the fishbowl of the Naval Academy, fleet wardrooms and beyond.

Based on consistent feedback from the Mids, junior officers and alumni who have completed their service obligations, the Gouge has undergone the first major reconstruction since the end of the DADT era. The advice pages which were “themed” as all pages here at USNAOut.org have been moved to new more subtly themed web pages. The guidance is also being expanded to provide guidance beyond graduation. With the increased content volume, guidance has been broken into relevant portions to be easier to find.

Feedback is always welcome at USNA OUt. Our online guidance is very dependent on knowing the issue facing midshipmen, junior officers and alumni.
Continue reading “6/2/2014 – The “New” Gouge for LGBT Mids, JOs & Alumni”