WASHINGTON, D.C. – SPARTA, one of the leading advocates for transgender military service, today announced Blake Dremann as the new board chair and president of SPARTA, and the addition of three new board members: Jennifer Peace, Laila Ireland and Danyiel Brustmeyer. Well-known advocates Allyson Robinson and Sue Fulton are stepping down from leadership, Robinson leaving…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In Wednesday’s first ever Veterans Awards Ceremony, “Mission Complete” presented SPARTA with the top award in the category of LGBT Veterans. The other four categories were: Veterans Mental Health, Veterans Community, Women Veterans, and Homeless Veterans. Over five hundred organizations were nominated, and narrowed down to three finalists in each category. Winners…
WASHINGTON– SPARTA, the association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who currently serve or have served in the U.S. armed forces and their families has called Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter’s failure to mention transgender military service in yesterday’s speech at the Pentagon’s event to commemorate LGBT Pride Month a “slap in the face”….
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Army announced today it is elevating authority to discharge transgender service members to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), the highest level at which that authority has ever been reserved. Prior to today’s announcement, local unit commanders were authorized to approve transgender soldiers’ separation orders. This…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) ruled today that “sex reassignment surgery” and other transition-related medical care should no longer be automatically excluded from coverage. “As HHS appropriately points out, excluding coverage for transition-related surgery is unreasonable as viewed by the standards of the medical profession today – incomplete, unfair, and…
