US Marines set up booth at gay center to begin recruitment
Two U.S. Marine recruiters were interviewed several times in the press yesterday for a remarkable first-time event. They were invited to The Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma to set up a booth. The event did not appear to produce any qualified candidates but it did serve as a great pubic relations opportunity. The Times quotes Sgt. Anthony Henry as saying (NYTimes):
“My take is, if they can make it through our boot camp, which is the toughest boot camp in the world, then they ought to have the opportunity to wear the uniform.”
He told KJRH-TV that it was a good day for the community and that the Marines were searching for qualified 18- to 24-year-old males and females. He added (KJRH):
“There’s a segment of the population that previously we did not have access to or did not have access to us that now has the opportunity to serve their country.”
Henry shook hands with a number of gay veterans and gay-rights supporters who welcomed their presence at the Center. At a meeting that evening, he was quoted as saying (Tulsa World News):
“Are there going to be things that happen? Absolutely. To say everything will be error-free … would be to lie. What I can tell you is that those things will be dealt with swiftly and won’t be swept under the rug.”
The remarkable thing about this event is that numerous reports and surveys claimed that the Marine Corp troops and leaders would be the most resistent among the military’s branches to accept a change in policy.
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