All State National Guards Now Issuing Same-Sex IDs
Less than two months after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel instructed the director of the National Guard Bureau to have all states issue dependent ID cards to spouses and dependents of gay and lesbian servicemembers, that mission has been accomplished, the Pentagon says.
"Following consultations between the National Guard Bureau and the adjutants general of the states, all eligible servicemembers, dependents and retirees --including same-sex spouses -- are now able to obtain ID cards in every state," Hagel said in a statement released Friday.
Hagel drew attention to the fact that several states were refusing to issue the IDs during a speech Oct. 31 before the Anti-Defamation League in New York City. He told the gathering that he had instructed Gen. Frank J. Grass, director of the Guard bureau, to "take immediate action to remedy this situation."
Grass told reporters during a Nov. 9 meeting with reporters that nine states originally refused to issue the IDs, but that four -- Indiana, Florida, Oklahoma, and West Virginia -- had come around by then, leaving Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and Georgia as the holdouts.
Only two of the states, however, Indiana and West Virginia, are issuing the cards at all National Guard bases and using the same procedure they use in issuing the cards to spouses and dependents of straight soldiers and airmen.
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