By BOB KESCKEMETY

With the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), untold thousands of service members lives will soon be changing and, to prepare gay and lesbian service members for these changes, it was announced this week that a new magazine catering to their needs will soon be hitting the newsstands.

The publication is being put together by OutServe, an organization that describes itself as an underground network of more than 2,900 LGBT military personnel. The bi-monthly magazine will cover the implementation of DADT repeal and other issues of  interest to LGBT soldiers and concerns about their lifestyle in the military. The magazine will also report on the activities at the various OutServe chapters, which claims to have chapters in all fifty states and twelve other countries including current war zones. The organization is led by two co-directors: An active-duty member who goes by the pseudonym of J.D. Smith and civilian Co-Director Ty Walrod.
OutServe is currently looking to hire an executive director and is looking for donations and advertisers.

OutServe, the organization, is comprised of LGBT members of the United States Armed Services and was publicly launched on July 26, 2010.

“Our first objective with the magazine is to let all the gay, lesbian, bi and trans members currently serving know that they are not alone,” said J.D. Smith. “And we also want to communicate to all troops that there are capable gay military members serving honorably, and that accepting that [fact] and moving on will make our military stronger.”
The first issue of OutServe is available online only and includes a number of articles concerning what changes the repeal of DADT will bring to the military, a photo essay by photographer Jeff Sheng, an incredibly talented photographer who began traveling the world to shoot photos of U.S. LGBT service members in 2009, an article about changing American attitudes towards LGBT service members serving openly in the U.S. armed forces, information about service member support groups and “Repeal Watch,” which outlines what steps will be taken by which branch of the service and the projected deadline including repeal training.

Smith said that the plan is to have the next version and all subsequent issues of the publication out in print and at some of the larger military bases.
For the latest news and information on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and its repeal, along with other information pertinent to LGBT military personal, there is a blog on their OutServe website which is updated as news happens.

Photos courtesy, freakingnews.com

“Visibility is key,” Smith added. “We are not about highlighting our differences, but demonstrating how LGBT troops are proud soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coasties, and Marines just like everyone else.”

As the Defense Department works to implement repeal of the military’s policy banning openly gay service members, LGBT organizations have warned people not to come out yet, and gay men and women trying to enlist or reenlist are not yet able to do so. OutServe promises to provide the most up-to-date and reliable information available.
In an email to OutServe members, board member and former West Point graduate Katie Miller wrote, “This not only symbolizes the repeal of DADT and the subsequent end of our silence, but for heterosexual service members, the magazine will help to build acceptance of gays and lesbians in the military, reduce the stigma associated with us, and begin deconstructing negative stereotypes that divide us rather than unite us. In the future, service members, gay or straight, will peruse the magazine in waiting rooms as casually as they pick up The Military Times, and they will finally come to realize what we’ve said all along: being gay is no big deal.”

For more information, go to www.outserve.org.