Out in National Security

On April 18, 2023, Luke Schleusener received the Knights Out Leadership Award at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Award recognizes individuals whose work has improved the LGBTQ+ and military communities.

Thank you so much, Andrew. And thank you so much to the entire Knights Out board, for granting me this award in recognition of my efforts to improve things for LGBTQIA+ servicemembers and the community as a whole. I think it’s wonderful that you’ve decided to give this award to someone who didn’t attend West Point.

So I’m thrilled to be here. Before I begin, I want to share that, as a speechwriter, I have a deep-seated fear of public speaking.

This is my fourth time here and the only time I’ve actually taken a tour of the entire place. 

This award is unexpected. When I set up ONS, I did not do it to get recognition like this. Most of my career, as Andrew has said, is behind people who are doing more important things.  

I was pretty happy to be the “guy behind the guy:” collecting information, building binders, and writing speeches for senior leaders who were receiving recognition rather than seeking it out for myself. Times change, people change, and sometimes you have to become a leader. 

But tonight, I want to emphasize that for the work that I do and the values that matter most, this award doesn’t belong to me alone but to the entire Out in National Security team.

We’ve been around for just four years. In that time, we have advocated before members of Congress, we have engaged with the executive branch, and we are in the process of changing law, custom, and policy, as well as placing LGBTQIA+ officials across this presidential administration—most of all, building a core community that connects us across all parts of the national security enterprise.

This would not have been possible without all the queer folks who’ve given time, talent and treasure. And it’s been a journey. The night before we launched, I sat with Shawn Skelly, who’s over there, and Rusty Pickens. I looked at the RSVPs, and I thought, “Who wants to come listen to a wordsmith in a room of gay people and talk about the national security state?” 

And Shawn looked me dead in the eye and said, “There are 130 RSVPs. People want to be there. Most importantly, it’s the right idea. It’s the right time, and it’s the right thing to do.”

She was right. Still is. I learned to lead in a way that drew others towards ONS because of our ideals and the way that we deliver on our values.

ONS is possible cause so many LGBTQIA+ people came together to form a community and give their time, talent, and treasure to make the engine go. We also have enough straight allies willing to be partners, allies, validators, and advocates.

I have been lucky enough to enjoy four years of stepping out behind senior Cabinet officials and Senators to bulldog former colleagues at think tanks, DOD, State, and the VA to improve things for LGBTQIA+ people who have served and seek to serve.

In that journey, I have learned that as a queer person, we all share unique advantages when it comes to leadership:

• First, emotional intelligence and choosing when to blend in and when to stand out. 
• Second, being queer lets us see things differently, plan new strategies and develop new ideas.
• Third, it has been a tremendous ability to have friends and colleagues wherever you go and a powerful and unique tribe. 
• Finally, being queer is a great opportunity to channel the anger at discrimination into rocket fuel for greater success and to make the world better for the next generation.

Each of these has been key to my success as a leader:

My EQ has helped me determine when I’ve needed to blend in on the E-Ring or when I chose to stand out and demand better for all of us; it’s an ability that empowers me to bridge communities, worlds, and institutions, to weave together unlikely but necessary coalitions to solve problems, to leap over, dig under, or blast through barriers, and more.

Seeing the world differently is why ONS exists: a hub that fuses advocacy, policymaking, and community for all of us.

I’m part of an in-between generation, just after it was legal to give openly LGB folks security clearances but before the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” marriage equality, and open transgender service. 

There was still a tribe for me to join that taught me to be safe and authentic within national security and outside of it. Secretary Fanning, Todd Breasseale, Sue Fulton, who’s over there, Shwan Skelly, and three colleagues from Senator Kennedy’s office: Steve Kerrigan, Tom Lopach, and Jay Maroney. 

I’ve grown to do the same in return: at mid-career, being a part of that tribe means supporting my peers, turning to them for support, and blazing a wider trail so it’s easier for the next generation to follow us. I’ve been thrilled to support people like Eli Walz, and Andrew Perry, others in this room.

My tribe–our tribe–is a way for me to take my anger at the way things are and turn that into the courage to change them. It’s a great gift to see that when things are unfair, you can make them better for other people. 

I will close with this, for leadership, the coin of the realm is trust. So to all of the cadets across all the academies who are going to graduate next month, when you’re getting your NCOs lost doing Land Nav and other routine tasks, remember this: “The team succeeds, but you, as the leader, have to eat every failure alone.”

Thanks so much, and good night!