Student Looking for LGBT Military Significant Others to Speak Out Filed by:
Serena Freewomyn November 23, 2008 4:30 PM
Yesterday I was listening to Josh Groban's Christmas album as I did my housework. (I know . . . it's not even Thanksgiving . . .) When it came around to "I'll Be Home For Christmas," the sound clips of military partners reading letters to their soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan made me stop and think.
Five years have passed since the start of the War in Iraq. During this period, the media has reported stories about soldiers who are sent to Iraq, only to come home with serious physical and psychosocial ailments. There have also been many reports about soldiers who have died. Lost in these media reports are the stories of the soldiers' significant others, and how they have dealt with suffering or deceased loved ones. And when it comes to LGBT partners, that silence is even louder.
One peace activist is trying to change that. Reyna Velarde is a graduate student a California State University Long Beach. She is collecting stories of military significant others to give a voice to the spouses and partners of soldiers sent to Iraq by highlighting their narratives in a staged performance.
