My hometown (Edmonton), is home to one of the largest Armed Forces Bases in Canada. This coming week, Edmonton will be celebrating pride, and in a first for the country, the pride flag will be raised outside of the base as a show of support :)

The photo and newspaper article are attached!



Canadian Forces Base to raise Pride flag to show support for GLBT community
By John Cotter, The Canadian Press June 6, 2013

EDMONTON - In what is being called a first in Canada, a rainbow-coloured Pride flag is to be raised at an Alberta military base Friday in a ceremony to be attended by senior officers and civilian members of the GLBT community.

Master Warrant Officer John McDougall made the request for the flag-raising a few weeks ago through the military chain of command at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton.

McDougall, who is a company sergeant-major in a field medical unit, said he was surprised when his request was quickly granted.

He said times have changed since he joined the army as a private 23 years ago.

"This is a huge turnaround from what used to be. When I first joined, I would never even consider telling anyone that I was gay. It just wasn't macho," he said.

"To be at the stage now where it is not only recognized and accepted and tolerated, but the base commander of the one of the largest bases of Canada is willing to have that flag put up, it is just an amazing feeling."

The Pride flag, a symbol for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, is to be flown near the base headquarters building for one week to coincide with Edmonton's Pride festival.

Lt. (Navy) Jessica MacDonald, a military spokeswoman, said people at the sprawling base that includes infantry and armoured units have been supportive.

There has been no backlash, she said.

"The flag-raising is really a symbol to all members of the GLBT community, whether they are civilian or serving members, that the Canadian Forces promotes principles of inclusiveness, equality and dignity."

The ceremony is to include base commander Lt.-Col. John Reissenstein, soldiers, civilians from the GLBT community and their supporters.

McDougall, 47, said he will be there with his partner of 18 years.

After years of putting his life on the line in faraway places such as Bosnia, Kosovo and Sierra Leone, being recognized and respected for who he is will be important, he said.

"It is a big event that it is happening and for the first time we will have a Pride flag flying at the base," he said. "That being said, in this day and age of tolerance, it shouldn't be a big issue."
© Copyright (c)

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Canadian+Forces+Base+raise+Pride+flag+show+support+GLBT+community/8491092/story.html#ixzz2VZjOs78f

She's scary in this

Congrats! :)

Congrats Mac!

Please see this important addendum to the original post relating to the restructuring of the fleet banks:

Data Samples & Particle Traces:

Data samples and particles traces may still be donated to the fleet bank! Any such donations can be placed in the first three columns of the consumables tab, designated for miscellaneous donations. Those data samples and particle traces will be moved to our storage fleet shortly after they've been donated, to assist with crafting efforts that puts quality gear back into the fleet banks.


BANK ETIQUETTE:

Please remember that the items in the fleet banks are meant to assist Captains in leveling their toons, and are NOT to be withdrawn for resale on the exchange or at a vendor in order to compensate fleet members for their contributions or perceived contributions to the fleet; this behavior is expressly forbidden.

While the fleet banks are largely donation driven, the Fleet Resources department also fully re-stocks one of our four banks per week, with purchased or crafted gear with the intent of providing some quality items to help our members level and progress through the game. The in-game currency needed to re-stock the banks is not withdrawn from the energy credit surplus in the fleet banks, but is self-generated by the department through a number of methods, including the forum signature store.

We work hard to generate the funds necessary to keep the banks regularly stocked where donations fall short, which is why we ask everyone to be mindful of the quantity of items they withdraw, and to be sure not to withdraw items with the intent of immediately reselling them for profit.

Thanks, all!

Congratulations, Mac :)

Gratz, Alan! I'm really proud of ya! Keep up the great work, dude! Thank you for for taking the time in assisting me and many others on SWTOR. You're very generous B) Speaking of which, I need to get back to playing lol

Congratulations, Mac! I'm sure our TOR guilds are in great hands :)

Congratulations Macintosh! I'm sure you'll have things running smoothly!!

I just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to Macintosh for being promoted to Officer for the SWTOR guilds Knights of Stonewall and Lords of Stonewall. He will fill the slot of Operations Officer for the guilds and has already been of tremendous assistance to me in many ways especially in keeping guild members informed of new "goings on" within the game. Please join me in congratulating Mac on his promotion! :cheer:

I would expect it would cover across continents because you are supposed to be able to transfer to any server but I'm not sure that has been specifically answered as of yet. We'd like to get everyone together. :)

I wonder if this will include across continents. If so i might come play with you guys.

Makes me remember cell block H.

New Netflix Original series staring [strike]Captain Janeway[/strike] Kate Mulgrew. :)

Comes out July 11th!

Quote by chemkarate

Love these changes! As a suggestion with regard to the Cooperation Rooms, how about naming them after famous LGBT people, places, and characters? For example, you could have the Milk Room, the Willow (from Buffy) Room, the Takei Room, the Jack Harkness (from Doctor Who) Room, etc.

We discussed this. We were planning on naming them after famous GLBT people (Milk, Sally Ride, etc.), but we also wanted to keep the Greek Alphabet in there because it's a bit of our culture and history. (The original Fleet rooms were Alpha Fleet, Beta Fleet, Iota Fleet, etc.) In the end though, the names became very verbose and difficult to describe quickly so we opted for the more easier to reference greek letters.

Quote by Gravity

But remember make a mess and i will break your fingers :P

You should break toes. People don't realize just how painful breaking toes are and how much you actually use your toes during the average day. If you break fingers you adapt and just don't use that finger, that can be an inconvenience but still ok. But when you break toes every step that someone takes puts pressure on it and they feel the pain fresh and new, toes also help with your balance so not being able to rely on your full foot when you take a steps make them more likely to fall and injure other parts of their bodies.

Not that I have given this much thought...

Love these changes! As a suggestion with regard to the Cooperation Rooms, how about naming them after famous LGBT people, places, and characters? For example, you could have the Milk Room, the Willow (from Buffy) Room, the Takei Room, the Jack Harkness (from Doctor Who) Room, etc.

A few days ago a couple of us were going to use the lounge as a discussion room and it was not accessible. I have not tried to get into it again since then but I was wondering if that was intended or if it's protected on accident.

Nice work and congratulations again on the win!! :D

I even switched out the away team so y'all would have more shirtless Orions to gawk at.