Sue Fulton
A 1980 graduate of West Point, Sue Fulton was part of the first class at the United States Military Academy to admit women. While commissioned in the Army, Fulton served as a platoon leader and company commander in Germany and was honorably discharged at the rank of Captain. “Being a lesbian was potentially devastating to my career as a young lieutenant right out of West Point,” Fulton tells GO. “In 1981, there wasn’t a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy — there was a gay ban. … I remember the feeling after I’d been relieved of duty pending a Criminal Investigation Division investigation into my sexuality – the feeling that everything I’d worked for at West Point and beyond was over.” After leaving the service, Fulton co-founded Knights Out, an organization of LGBTQ+ West Point alumni and allies, and helped found OutServe, an association for actively-serving LGBTQ+ military members. She also played a major role in lifting the military’s ban on transgender service in 2013 as President of SPART*A, a group for transgender people who currently serve or have served in the military. President Obama even recognized Fulton’s work, appointing her the first openly gay member of the West Point Board of Visitors in 2011. Fulton followed up the naming by becoming the first female USMA graduate to chair the Board in 2015. Most recently, Fulton worked with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to facilitate the adoption of licensing drivers regardless of immigration status. “Ultimately, being an out West Point grad gave me remarkable credibility in the battle for LGBT rights in the military — a battle we won, then partially lost, and are now re-engaged in,” says Fulton. —IL
