Outgoing Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel included photos of service members, including a same-sex couple, in his Christmas greetings video.
When Chuck Hagel was nominated to become Pres. Obama’s Secretary of Defense, LGBT Republicans and some LGBT groups voiced concerns and the former GOP Senator essentially had to promise and prove he would be a leader on equality. Transgender rights notwithstanding, he seems in many respects to have passed that test.
Despite resigning under pressure, Secretary Hagel is still the Secretary of Defense until the Senate confirms the President’s next pick.Â
So he had no reason except that commitment to equality to include a 2013 iconic photo of a beautiful same-sex marriage proposal in his final Christmas greetings as Secretary.
The photo included in the video is from August 2013, when Petty Officer 2nd Class Jerrel Revel proposed to Dylan Kirchner in Groton, Connecticut, after returning from a six-month deployment. Shockingly, the image, which went viral and was covered by the mainstream media, received many ugly attacks from anti-gay bigots, so it’s nice to see it get the respect it deserves.
Kyler Geoffroy at Towleroad first reported on the video, this evening.
Watch:
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Image of Sec. Hagel via YouTube
Image of proposal U.S. Navy photo by Kristina Young
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