Grethe Cammermeyer’s battle was long and hard-fought. For more than 20 years, she was a leading champion of the campaign to allow gays to serve openly in the military.
With legislation signed by President Barack Obama last week, Cammermeyer’s hope will soon be a right. After years of fighting, she had little time to get from her Whidbey Island home to Washington, D.C., to commemorate the victory.
A White House invitation came a few days before the signing ceremony Wednesday at the U.S. Department of Interior building. Cammermeyer was asked by the White House to lead more than 100 people gathered for the event in the Pledge of Allegiance.
“For me that was so significant,” she said Thursday. Cammermeyer felt newly included in the words of the pledge. “To have that opportunity was very humbling. This sense of pride in being able to say it with a different meaning. It really does apply to us on this day.”
Cammermeyer, 68, spoke by phone from the Langley-area home she shares with her partner, artist Diane Divelbess.
“It was a big deal,” she said. “It felt like the winning of a war.”
The House and Senate voted earlier this month to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which has ruled the armed forces’ stance on gays serving openly in the military since 1993. The contentious policy, which divided not only members of Congress but military leaders, was implemented by President Bill Clinton.
Cammermeyer was an Army Reserve colonel and chief nurse with the Washington National Guard when in 1992 she revealed she was a lesbian during a top-level security clearance interview. She was honorably discharged. In 1995, her book, “Serving in Silence,” was made into a movie starring Glenn Close.
After a legal fight, Cammermeyer retired with full military benefits in 1997. She never quit working for equality for gay servicemen and women.
For Cammermeyer, the issue that’s been debated and dissected for years is one of fairness. “I was being discriminated against for something that had nothing to do with my job,” she said.
She believes that the new policy of openness, which will start after the law is certified and a 60-day waiting period has passed, won’t bring turmoil to the military ranks.
“It’s like anticipating the 2000 millennium meltdown. Most people in the military are already working side by side with gays. It is a non-issue for them,” she said.
Cammermeyer said those most affected by the change will be gay service members. “They’ll no longer have to worry about being part of a witch hunt, being targeted, and losing their careers because of personal characteristics,” she said.
Still, for gay members of the military, Cammermeyer expects change will be gradual. “If you’ve been in the service say 10 or 15 years, and all your life you don’t tell anybody you’re gay, you expect you’re going to be rejected,” she said. “All of a sudden you have a signed piece of paper from the president of the United States. It will be small steps of truths. Gradually, it will change the culture.”
Outside the military, Cammermeyer has lived through that change.
After her discharge from the Army, she was determined not to give up. “It started with, ‘I have to take on this challenge.’ It was uncomfortable for me. We shouldn’t have to talk about these personal issues,” she said. “You realize that the only way to demystify our lives is to have those conversations.”
“Serving in Silence” was a beginning, she said. “It was a building block for me, that maybe I could build understanding,” Cammermeyer said.
She sees the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell” as a victory for truth.
“No longer do I believe that second-best works,” Cammermeyer said. “We need to live with integrity and as whole people.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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