大卫·欧博伊尔著
2017年6月26日
With members in all 50 states 和 more than 80 countries, the D.C. 酒吧 is beginning a regular feature to profile the people who make up our community. Read about your peers, their lives, 和 their work around the world.
作为华盛顿特区的一个新的单一移植手术.C., Sharra格里尔 was looking to build her social life in a new city. At a women’s bookshop, she asked the clerk for her opinion on the best place to meet new people. 差不多在同一时间, 达西·凯姆尼茨也来到了华盛顿特区, 和, 这是命运的安排, she asked the same clerk from the same bookshop the same question. 对任何一个澳门赌场官网, the clerk recommended that they try a women’s discussion group hosted by Whitman-Walker Health.
格里尔和凯姆尼茨就是这样认识的, hitting it off despite their first “heated discussion” on whether the Millennium March on Washington in 2000 to rally for LGBT rights was a good idea. Today the couple jokingly admits that debate still has not been resolved.
Greer 和 Kemnitz are both passionate about social justice issues, focusing their work on improving the lives of marginalized individuals in society.
“我上法学院是为了研究民权问题, 还有正义和公平的问题,格里尔说。. “I felt that the law was a good avenue to be able to do that work.”
格里尔的职业生涯始于雇佣澳门赌场官网, but quickly transitioned to social justice 和 advocacy work when she joined the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network as its legal director. 在SLDN, Greer played an instrumental role in laying the groundwork for a legislative repeal of the “不要问, 不要告诉” military policy barring LGBT individuals from openly serving in the armed forces.
After 9/11 和 the country’s subsequent wars in Afghanistan 和 Iraq, 人们的注意力集中在军事上, creating the conditions for the ultimate repeal of “不要问, 不要告诉.”
“The country could see what it meant for people who were willing to serve our country overseas 和 be injured 和 killed,格里尔说。. “然而，他们不能成为他们自己. 如果有人发现了，他们就会被开除.”
“不要问, 不要告诉” was ultimately repealed in 2011 after Greer 和 her colleagues got a bill introduced in Congress. 法案签署成为法律的那天，格里尔也在场. “Getting to be in the room with activists I had worked with for a decade, 和 veterans who had been discharged who would now be able to serve, 只是令人惊叹和强大吗,格里尔说。. “这是我经历过的最不可思议的时刻之一.”
格里尔于2008年加入儿童法律中心(CLC), 担任首任政策主管, 她今天仍在扮演着这个角色.
Kemnitz, who has led the LGBT 酒吧 Association since 2004 as executive director, says she became a lawyer to advance her interests 和 career in social justice work, 并努力“让每个人的生活更美好”.”
“在我们的一生中，我们已经看到了很多事情发生. 我绝对不会相信的, 虽然还没定下来, we would be looking at open transgender military service just a few short years after the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, 不要告诉,’”凯姆尼茨说.
Although Greer 和 Kemnitz have been together for nearly 20 years, they were just married in 2010 when the District began to allow same-sex marriage. Greer says she 和 Kemnitz were adamant that they would be married in the District instead of traveling elsewhere, 比如马萨诸塞州或加拿大, 哪里承认同性婚姻.
在该市同性婚姻合法化的那天, Greer 和 Kemnitz arrived at the courthouse—dressed in business attire 和 holding cups of coffee 和 newspapers—where they became “lucky couple number 22,凯姆尼茨说.
“这很伤脑筋，”格里尔说. “国会的幽灵正在逼近, 和 we weren’t sure [legalized same-sex marriage in the District] was going to happen. 我们想确保我们能马上排好队.”
Not long after they were married, Greer 和 Kemnitz dove head-first into parenthood. Almost immediately after getting approved to become foster parents, Greer received a phone call notifying her that there were infant twins at a hospital needing emergency placement.
格里尔说:“我告诉老板我必须请假. “I went to Target to buy a second set of everything, as well as formula, diapers, 和 clothes. 我不得不跑回房子去搭建第二个婴儿床.”
After a pause, Greer says, “Then we got these two beautiful children.”
Even as a highly-educated couple with plenty of support 和 resources, Greer 和 Kemnitz found the experience of navigating the adoption process challenging. Greer says their experience gave her an even stronger appreciation for the families the CLC works with, 现在更是如此, 她认为该组织的工作尤为重要.
“儿童和家庭没有得到支持,格里尔说。, who fears that various programs to assist children 和 families with learning challenges, 语言障碍, 或者面临无家可归的人可能会被大幅削减, leaving the city to make tough decisions about whether to fill the gaps.
收养双胞胎, Liam和Máire, 是一次让格里尔大开眼界的经历吗, who had observed the process from the outside through her work at the CLC. Greer says she was surprised by how much she felt like every other foster parent going through the adoption process considering all her experience with the adoption system.
It took a year 和 a half to finalize the twins’ adoption 和 legally add them to the family. 在法院的收养令上, 法官写道, “It is hereby ordered to be noted that these two are the luckiest moms in the world,凯姆尼茨说. “It is a legal fact that we are the luckiest moms in the whole world.”
