FORT BRAGG, NC — The garrison commander for Fort Bragg—which serves as headquarters for the elite 82nd Airborne Division, and 12 other military commands overseen by Army generals—has agreed to meet on Thursday, December 20 with an openly-gay soldier’s wife who was discriminated against in being refused membership by a base spouses’ group.

Ashley Broadway was told by the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses that she was ineligible to join. She will meet with Col. Jeffrey Sanborn (USA) to discuss the base’s role, if any, in an appeal of the decision, according to a joint statement by the American Military Partner Association and OutServe-SLDN.

“We are pleased to announce that the leadership at Fort Bragg … will meet with Ashley Broadway next Thursday to address the discrimination she is facing with the Association of Bragg Officers’ Spouses,” the statement reads.

“By agreeing to this meeting, the post leadership is affirming that, indeed, it does have a role to play when a family in its community is treated unfairly by a group that holds itself out as representative of all military families. Ashley looks forward to discussing not only the challenges her family has faced, but those faced by other same-sex military families in the Fort Bragg community.”

The statement added, “We continue to urge Col. Sanborn and Commanding Gen. Daniel Allyn to use their considerable influence to remedy this situation for Ashley and pave the way for all military families at Fort Bragg to be treated with fairness, dignity, and equity.”

The Garrison Commander of Fort Bragg supervises the US Army base’s 3,000 civilian employees and contractors, with administrative duties and functions that mirror those of a civilian city manager.