First Lady Michelle Obama recently announced that President Obama has ordered National Security Staff to conduct a review to "set strategic military family priorities for the next ten years." Ten years is well within the timeframe of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal President Obama said he would work on with Congress this year. That means the review should include the concerns and challenges of gay and lesbian military families and their children.

The review follows the launch of the Department of Defense's Military Family Life Project, in which 100,000 military spouses and 40,000 married active-duty servicemembers have been selected at random from all services and will be invited by mail to participate in a confidential online survey about the impact of deployment. By defining participants as "spouses" and "married," however, the DoD is ensuring that no gay and lesbian servicemembers and their spouses/partners -- who must keep their marital/partnership status hidden -- will participate.

The families of gay and lesbian servicemembers support those servicemembers so they may ensure our national security. They are equal to any other military families in this regard. They struggle, however, with the additional restrictions of DADT and a lack of equal recognition and resources.

Tell the First Lady to make sure gay and lesbian military families are included in any studies of military families, so their challenges and concerns are made known and may be addressed to strengthen our overall military.

Photo credit: National Guard