Denver's John J. Kelly featured on Gay Military Signal

Denver gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) activist John J. Kelly (pictured) was recently featured on the cover of the Gay Military Signal - aweb publication is dedicated to providing a voice to the ongoing efforts to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. Kelly shares this month’s cover with Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate, who recently was discharged after coming out on MSNBC and chaining himself to the White House gates. The publication has a national subscription of over 30,000.

Kelly's story tells of his personal experience with gay harassment while stationed in North Africa in 1960. The juxtaposition of the two histories is striking in the fact that their stories are still revenant despite the fifty years between them. In response to being featured along side Lt. Choi, Kelly said “It’s ironic after all this time, that I share this attention with someone who is publicly leading a fight that just could not have happened fifty years ago. The shame is the same, but we had to do it in silence. It’s a disgrace that so many things have changed yet they remain so much the same.”

Kelly is currently active with the SAGE of the Rockies program at the GLBT Center and was recently appointed to the Denver GLBT Commission.