An openly gay co-founder of Knights
Out, Brenda S. 'Sue' Fulton, has been named to the Board of Visitors
of the United States Military Academy on Tuesday.
The board advises President Barack
Obama on the West Point military academy.
Fulton's appointment was announced in a
White House press release. Her presidential appointment does not
require Senate confirmation.
The 52-year-old Army veteran heavily
lobbied for repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the 1993 law that
bars gay and bisexual troops from serving openly.
In addition to serving as the executive
director of Knights Out, an organization of LGBT West Point graduates
and allies, she's also a founding board members of OutServe, the
nascent group dedicated to LGBT people serving in the military. She
graduated from West Point in 1980 and currently lives in New Jersey.
“I would hope it would symbolize to
all people gay and straight that anti-gay bias in the military is a
thing of the past,” Fulton
told The Wall Street Journal of her appointment. “I
would hope it would tell them that if you're willing to serve your
country and you're qualified, other factors don't matter. I see my
role as in some sense helping West point send that message – that
we respect all people equally. That's part of our values, that's
part of our code.”