Obama Nominated First Openly Gay Leader of the Army

Obama’s decision has yet to be approved by the U.S. Senate.

On Friday, President Barack Obama nominated first openly gay leader of the Army, Eric Fanning. In his opinion, the newly appointed secretary of the Army has sufficient experience and leadership to successfully fulfill his new responsibilities.

• President Barack Obama’s Speech
• Eric Fanning’s past experience
• LGBT community’s response to Obama’s new announcement

President Barack Obama thinks Eric K. Fanning is the right man to become the next secretary of the U.S. Army. His decision has nothing to do with Fanning’s sexual orientation, proving once again that Obama is one of the strongest supporters of gay community members.

The President stated during his official announcement on Friday that Fanning has proven his military abilities and his leadership on many past occasions; therefore, he is the right man to be named U.S. Secretary. Yet, Obama’s decision has to be first approved by the U.S. Senate before Fanning can cover his new position.

Obama concluded his official declaration by expressing his beliefs that Eric Fanning will do a tremendous job representing the interests of both men and female soldier. He also believes the newly appointed secretary will inspire American soldiers to take part in great deeds.

Eric K. Fanning has previously worked under the secretary of the Army and previous to that, he covered the position of chief of staff for Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter. He began his career as deputy undersecretary of the Navy; therefore, President Barack Obama considered he has enough knowledge to get to a higher function, that of Secretary of Army.

The LGBT community has welcomed Obama’s decision to support the first openly gay secretary for the U.S. Army. The American Military Partner Association confessed that they were very pleased to see Eric Fanning nominated. They believe a very important step was made for equality now that a gay man was appointed for such an important national role.

This is not the first action that the Obama administration is making in support of the LGBT community in general and for gay soldiers, in particular. In 2010, he passed a law which finally ended the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, according to which gays and lesbians were not allowed to serve in the military. At the beginning of the year, he expanded the application of his new law, allowing transgender soldiers to serve in the army, as well.

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