Knights Out is an organization of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

alumni, staff and faculty who support the rights of

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

, and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

(

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) people to serve openly in the U.S. military and who wish to educate young officers about the issues and contributions of LGBT troops. The group's name is in reference to the

Army Black Knights The Army Black Knights are the athletic teams that represent the United States Military Academy, located in West Point, New York. In sports contexts, since 2015, the teams are commonly referred to as Army. The Black Knights compete at the Nation ...

, West Point's athletic mascot.

History

In January 2009, two

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

alumni, L Paul Morris '80, and Dan Manning '04, along with

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

graduate

Steve Clark Hall Steve Clark Hall (born November 9, 1953) is a retired United States Navy submarine officer and documentary film maker. He is the first openly gay senior U.S. Navy officer who is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Early life and education Stev ...

USNA The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is ...

'75, started work to establish a West Point organization parallel to

USNA Out USNA Out is an American non-profit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Alumni of the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. USNA Out is an independent 501(c)(3) organization that does not represent ...

, the LGBT alumni association of the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

. At the time, L. Paul Morris was serving as the chair of SAGALA, the joint service academy gay and lesbian alumni network, while Dan Manning was the USMA board representative. This led to the founding of Knights Out in March 2009. Becky Kanis, USMA '91, agreed to chair the Knights Out Board and was joined on the Board by L. Paul Morris '80, Brenda S. "Sue" Fulton '80, Margaret Wilson '89, Scott Melendez ex-92, Sarah Haag '03, Dan Manning '04, and New York National Guard First Lieutenant

Daniel Choi Dan Choi (born February 22, 1981) is an American former infantry officer in the United States Army who served in combat in the Iraq War during 2006–2007. He became an LGBT rights activist following his coming out on ''The Rachel Maddow Show ...

, '03. As spokesperson for the organization in 2009,

gained national attention for challenging the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

's "

don't ask, don't tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December ...

" (DADT) policy when he

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

on the ''

Rachel Maddow Show ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (also abbreviated ''TRMS'') is an American liberal news and opinion television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET timeslot Monday evenings. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public pr ...

''. The core of the membership is represented by the "Out Knights," graduates and former cadets who are publicly identified on the website as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. USMA graduates and current and former Staff and Faculty who are straight or do not wish to be identified as LGBT can join as Graduate Supporters. All others are encouraged to join as Allies. The membership has grown from 38 members to more than 400 members and allies, including over 75 Out Knights.

Actions

Since its founding, members of Knights Out have spoken out in support of repealing the

Don't Ask, Don't Tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December ...

policy and to educate their fellow Soldiers and citizens. Knights Out has also worked closely with the

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network OutServe-SLDN was a network of LGBT military personnel, formed as a result of the merger between OutServe and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. OutServe-SLDN was one of the largest LGBT employee resource groups in the world. OutServe was ...

(SLDN) and other organizations committed to repeal. Finally, Knights Out members support West Point and the Army by speaking with Academy groups to educate and train leaders in preparation for leading a post-DADT Army. Because the DADT repeal has been Knights Out's main project, the repeal is likely to alter the group's target. Fulton said that they will work with West Point to dispel stereotypes about LGBT soldiers.

References

External links

Official websiteKnights Out on Facebook
{{LGBT military-related groups LGBT political advocacy groups in the United States Sexual orientation and the United States military LGBT military-related organizations

History

Actions

See also

References

External links