Fort Bragg Military club closes ranks to gay wife

WOW took CNN a month to pick up on this story. Fort Bragg Officer Spouse changed rule after gay spouse wanted to join

Some Spouse Clubs Deny Membership to Gays
Dec 13, 2012
Military.com
by Amy Bushatz

Out -- but not in: Military club closes ranks to gay wife
By Ashley Fantz
CNN
January 8, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
In North Carolina, Fort Bragg spouse club bars same-sex wife of a lieutenant colonel
The club told Ashley Broadway that without a military ID card, she was ineligible to join
Prominent voices in military circles have rallied behind Broadway
"It's discrimination," says an official with Blue Star Families, a national military family group

(CNN) -- For 15 years, Ashley Broadway has devoted her life to the military and to her spouse, an Army lieutenant colonel.

The former schoolteacher found a new job and made new friends each time she had to relocate bases, including a move to South Korea. When a deployment to the Middle East separated the couple, Broadway took care of the couple's young son, Carson, on her own. Now at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and with a second child on the way, Broadway wanted to settle down and get to know more spouses like herself.

So she applied for membership to the Association of Bragg Officers' Spouses.

"I thought, 'Here's a chance to make some close friends who would really understand me,'" Broadway said. "And I could get very active in events that help other families like mine. I was excited, really excited, to be a part of this group."

But the Bragg spouse club apparently didn't feel the same way. Broadway's married to Lt. Col. Heather Mack. The officers' spouse club didn't want her, she believes, because she's gay.

Shortly after Broadway applied, the club called her to say it had new membership rules. If she didn't have a military ID card, she couldn't join.

The couple is legally married -- reciting their vows during a November ceremony in Washington, D.C., and signing a state marriage certificate.
read more here