Organizers of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade “reversed course” and said “they would allow a group of gay veterans to march in this year’s parade,” according to a March 11 Associated Press report. “A lawyer for OutVets said late Friday that the group looked forward to ‘marching proudly’ and representing LGBTQ veterans.”

Controversy leading up to the decision to allow the group, OutVets, to march in the parade centered around whether they would be allowed to display the LGBT rainbow symbol. The fight was over their flag.

“Somehow Less”

Bryan Bishop, executive director of OutVets, reportedly said, “It infuriates me to look at the veterans that I know, gay and straight, who have served this country with valor and honor and distinction, and just because you’re a veteran who happens to be gay your service is somehow less than someone who is not of the LGBT community or someone who’s not gay.”

There are serious policy issues surrounding the wisdom of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the U.S. military. Regardless of those discussions, the fact remains that gay and lesbian women have served in America’s armed forces for a very long time. Some of them actively hid their sexual preferences; some of them under later administrations weren’t asked and didn’t tell. Even more recently, some have been completely open about their sexuality.

There isn’t even the suggestion of the American flag in it.

Certainly there was nothing stopping gays and lesbians marching as veterans, and being honored as such. For Bishop, however, that would have been dishonoring. Their service would be “somehow less” if they weren’t allowed to represent themselves specifically as gay or lesbian veterans in a St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Two Websites, Two Messages

But veterans of what? It’s instructive to compare OutVets’ website with the website for the National Association for Black Veterans. The NABVETS website features the Stars and Stripes at the top. On the Outvets website there are stars and stripes, too, but divided; the stripes are rainbow strips hung vertically, and the stars are arranged separately.

There isn’t even the suggestion of the American flag in it.

Veterans of What?

And what does it mean to honor a veteran, anyway? For Bryan Bishop, gay and lesbian veterans are “somehow less” if they’re not allowed to march specifically as gay and lesbian veterans. The implication is that they would be less than fully honored if they had to march with straight veterans, that is, as simple veterans rather than as gay veterans.

Which leads me to wonder again, veterans of what? Which flag are they fighting for? Which one do they want to honor?