FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE INTERNET — Feb. 15 2007 – An anonymous blogger known only as “Anonymous Soldier” today launched a new website, Serving in Unsilence. Serving in Unsilence™ is a free service aimed at the LGBT Service Member community in an effort to raise awareness of the many thousands of sexual minority Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines serving honorably and in silence in defense of their country.

A blogger for over two years, Anonymous Soldier decided to assume an anonymous identity in November 2005, and began posting to An Army of 1 in 10™. Having watched the Military Readiness Enhancement Act linger in legislative limbo for nearly two years, Anonymous Soldier decided to provide to other Service Members a voice by launching Serving in Unsilence.

The Serving in Unsilence website offers a free blog to any LGBT Service Member, current or former, regardless of active/reserve component or branch. Recognizing that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is more than military policy (it’s Federal Law), Serving in Unsilence has one of the strongest privacy policies on the internet and strongly urges its members who are currently in the military not to divulge any personal information on their blogs.

Some Features Offered by Serving in Unsilence™

Free Blogs. Serving in Unsilence utilizes the power and extensibility offered by WordPress to provide a powerful and modern platform for its members to express their views and experiences.

Customizable Themes. Because Serving in Unsilence is built upon WordPress technology, it’s able to offer many different themes for members to pick from. All themes can be customized by each member to create a unique website; for those who love their branch of service, there are even Service Themes to choose from.

Spam Protection. Spam comments have become a large nuisance in the “Blogosphere;” therefore, one of the most powerful spam fighting tools is installed on each blog for immediate use.

Community. Every Service Member with an account on Serving in Unsilence is a part of a growing and vocal community. They are able to create “buddy lists” and leave private messages for each other in their Dashboards.

The Dashboard. The Dashboard of Wordpress has been extended and improved to reflect the fact that Serving in Unsilence is more than just a website — it’s a community. Members have access to the latest entries from the different blogs hosted by the service and can control every aspect of their blog by using it. The interface has been modified to be more attractive and easier to use.

Freedom of Expression. Those who defend the nation in silence no longer have to be silent — they can now be Unsilent™. Each blog on the site is backed by the full force of the First Amendment (tempered by the constraints of DADT and Operational Security, of course!) and is not subjected to censorship because of disagreement with the viewpoints expressed.

Privacy. Every blog on Serving in Unsilence™ has several privacy options available:

• Completely open: access to the blog is not limited in any manner.
• Unlisted: the blog is not searched or indexed by search engines.
• Members only: the blog is accessible only to registered Unsilence™ members.
• Individual posts can be password-protected.

Extras. The Dashboard offers an Extras panel, where users will find additional features that can be activated at no additional cost. These Extras enhance and extend the functionality of the user’s blog.

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