WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thursday, the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) responded to comments made by President Donald Trump regarding the service of transgender troops and his move to ban them from the military. Regarding his recent tweets announcing his ban, President Trump said, “As you know, it’s been a very complicated issue for the military. It’s been…
This week LGBTQ Americans received a one-two punch from the Trump administration. The first punch was President Trump’s ban against transgender service members. In his inimitable style of communicating to the American public the order came in the form of a tweet: “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United…
I remember how tough it was for me to change my documented gender in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) as a military retiree in 2013. It was incredibly tough and onerous: I needed six separate pieces of documentation, to include proof of surgery. Most of the documents the Department of Defense (DoD) required…
In 2007 I became a blogger at Pam’s House Blend, and went on to become what Melissa Harris Perry called “the first national transgender blogger.” In 2008 I became one of the first two transgender reporters who were credentialed to cover the Democratic National Convention. In 2009 I became the first transgender reporter to cover…
Monday, the Department of Defense (DoD) released a new DoD Human Goals Charter, signed by Secretary of Defense Hagel. The last iteration of that document was released in 1998, and included mention of equal equality based on sexual orientation for civilian employees, but not for military servicemembers. The new iteration includes a language based on…
My friend, Nicole Shounder, currently serves on board a Military Sealift Command (MSC) ship out of the Pacific Northwest. She’s a nurse, and when she’s assigned onto any U.S. Navy ship she takes on the equivalent rank of a lieutenant commander (LCDR). She was cited in a document entitled Report of the Transgender Military Service…
Transprogressive Some people consider Pfc. Bradley Manning a hero; others a whistleblower; others still consider him to be a criminal who endangered the security of the United States. There was a portion of the San Francisco LGBT community who wanted to own Manning as a San Francisco Pride honoree this past June. Others didn’t want…
Thanks to the United States Supreme Court’s ruling on the marriage cases last week, we would be justified in letting out a sigh of relief that LGBT equality is finally becoming a reality and this month’s Pride celebration is the perfect opportunity to celebrate our recent successes. Among the most wonderful new additions to our…
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Marines and sailors with I Marine Expeditionary Force are officially authorized to wear approved uniforms in the 39th annual San Diego Pride Parade, July 13, the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton announced today. For the past two years the San Diego Pride Parade has welcomed…
According to a former OutServe-SLDN leader, 19 chapters of OutServe-SLDN are threatening to breakaway unless the majority of the existing board is replaced. In particular they are seeking the resignation of Josh Seefried, co-chair of the current OutServe-SLDN board of directors and alleged instigator of the plan to replace Allyson Robinson. The group that calls…
