Wed 27 Nov 2013 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Tammy Smith (right) with her wife Tracey Hepner The first-ever openly gay general in the US Army will be the keynote speaker at the Pride in Defence conference which begins in Wellington tomorrow. She is being brought to the capital as a guest for the two-day gathering, which has been organised by glbti support group OverWatch with support from Massey University and the backing of the New Zealand Defence Force. Brigadier General Tammy Smith’s wife Tracey Hepner pinned her star on her uniform when she was promoted last year. The couple had earlier married in Washington DC following the repeal of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. General Smith was the first openly-gay US “flag officer” to come out while serving. A flag officer is someone with the rank of general, lieutenant general, major general, or brigadier general. General Smith is the Director of Human Capital Core Enterprise for the United States Army Reserve, a role where she makes sure HR policy fits with operational readiness for the 205,000 soldiers in the Reserve. Hepner is the co-founder of the Military Partners and Families Coalition, an advocacy group for glbti families in the military. General Smith will give the keynote address at the Pride in Defence Conference at Massey University's Wellington campus tomorrow afternoon. She will then take part in a panel discussion. Another international visitor will be Amin Michel from the NATO + LGBT Working Group, who has founded and co-founded several initiatives, including the first informal NATO Committee on LGBT Perspectives, the first Gay-Straight Armed Forces Alliance and the Dutch Government Pride Platform. He's also an Advisory Board member for the European Gay Police Association. Lieutenant General Rhys Jones Two members of the Australian Defence Force will speak, along with representatives of the New Zealand Defence Force, including its Chief Lieutenant General Rhys Jones. The NZDF’s Director of Defence Psychology Lieutenant Colonel Steve Kearney, Equity and Diversity Manager Sue Russ and OverWatch Chair, Squadron Leader Stu Pearce are other listed presenters. There will also be a corporate presence in gay Coca-Cola Amatil HR General Manager Martin King, and ANZ Business Development Manager and head of its Pride Network Craig Bonnington, while Chief Executive of the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust Bev Mackenzie will also present. Among the academics and health professionals who will present are Massey researchers Dr Steven Neville and Jeff Adams, Barry Taylor from Australia’s National LGBTI Health Alliance and Michael Stevens from Affinity NZ. The Pride in Defence Conference comes 20 years since the Human Rights Act made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, and New Zealand’s Defence Force lifted its ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual people serving in uniform or as civilian staff. “In recent years we have seen increasing numbers of glbtiq people choosing a career in the NZDF and current members of the NZ Defence Force who identify as glbtiq electing to live and serve openly,” the Defence Force tells GayNZ.com Daily News. “As a progressive employer, the NZ Defence Force has an ethical responsibility to ensure the needs of its increasingly diverse workforce are supported. “The Defence Force is holding the Pride in Defence conference to build on this support.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 27th November 2013 - 12:00pm