COMMENTARY: BY AUTUMN SANDEEN 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….
SAN DIEGO – For the third year in a row, San Diego LGBT Pride is inviting active duty and veteran servicemembers to participate in a special military contingent leading the 39th annual Pride parade Saturday, July 13 at 11 a.m. San Diego Pride made in history in 2011 by hosting the first active duty military…
Retired Senior Chief Kristin Beck’s book Warrior Princess was recently released about her 20 years in the Navy and the beginning of her transition from male to female. I won’t presume I can editorialize about or retell her personal story found in the pages of her book better than others have – I’m certainly not…
The case of Leyland v. Orr was argued and decided in 1987 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Jane Anne Leyland was a reserve officer who had served in the Air Force and Air Force Reserves for a total of 15 years, and shortly after being selected for lieutenant colonel she had a vaginoplasty…
WASHINGTON — In advance of Memorial Day, the Respect for Marriage Coalition hosted a call featuring Former Congressman, Army Captain and Iraq War Veteran Patrick Murphy, Outserve-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson, American Military Partner Association Director of Family Affairs Ashley Broadway and military widow Karen Morgan to highlight the harms of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the nation’s military and to…
During the past few years I’ve been changing my documented gender at various government agencies. I’ve obtained a court ordered change of documented gender with the state of California and used that court order to obtain a new birth certificate indicating I was born female. I also have provided required documents and followed specified procedures…
In the week since I wrote my last column, scheduled Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (MWMF) performer Ubaka Hill released a statement in response to the Change.org petition asking that this year’s performers at the festival boycott the event. She stated, “My response to your courageous request that I cancel my Drumsong Workshop and the Drumsong…
March 9, OutServe-SLDN’s Executive Director Allyson Robinson gave a speech at a Washington, D.C. fundraiser for her organization that was billed as “The State of LGBT Military Service Address.” In her speech she gave a description of how her family supported her through her time, first at West Point and then later during her military…
WASHINGTON – Former Congressman and former U.S. Navy Three-Star Admiral Joe Sestak today joined with Former Congressman, Army Captain and Iraq War Veteran Patrick Murphy, OutServe-SLDN Executive Director Allyson Robinson and Staff Sgt. Tracy Johnson in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to end the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Thirty military officials and OutServe-SLDN,…
By delaying their decision on allowing gay Scouts, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) gave the anti-equality forces time to pull together their arguments for the May meeting. While I’m curious to hear what the downsides of inclusive Scouting are, I suggest they stay away from the bathroom argument, because they’re already losing it. The…
