September 22, 2011
Ex-Sergeant, Outed As A Lesbian, Plans to Re-Enlist
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
A female sergeant who was discharged from the Air Force after South Dakota police reported her marriage to a woman is planning to re-enlist now that the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in uniform has been repealed.
Jene (jeh-NAY') Newsome, of Harrisburg, Pa., said Wednesday that she's eager to restart her military career. But she says she also feels that jubilation over the repeal was stolen from her.
She says she wished she'd had the feeling of liberation to come out to her colleagues and stop pretending publicly that her wife was just a friend or roommate.
Newsome was working at Ellsworth Air Force Base when police serving an out-of-state warrant against her partner noticed an Iowa marriage certificate. The Air Force gave Newsome an honorable discharge.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
