![]() 30 Years of Service to the LGBT Community | |
Founded | 1990 |
---|---|
Founder | Miriam Ben-Shalom |
Location | |
Area served | United States |
Services | veterans |
Website | aver |
Formerly called | Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America |
American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) is the oldest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Veterans Service Organization (VSO) in the United States. Founded in 1990, AVER is a non-profit VSO that supports and advocates for the rights of LGBT military veterans, active duty service members, and their families.
AVER was founded by several LGBT veterans including SSgt. (Army Reserve-Rtd.) Miriam Ben-Shalom; Navy Ensign, Jim Woodward, president of the San Diego Veterans Association; Chuck Schoen; [1] bisexual US Army veteran Cliff Arnesen [2] of the New England Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans, Boston, Massachusetts; [3] in 1990 as the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America, the oldest organization of LGBT veterans. [4]
Miriam Ben-Shalom, a lesbian Army Reserve enlisted soldier who was discharged in 1975 by the military after it was revealed by a higher officer that she was lesbian, fought through the judicial system to retain her post. While initially successful, a higher federal Court of Appeals ultimately reversed the decision.
To help defend others in similar situations, Ben-Shalom worked with other LGBT veterans to establish the GLBVA in 1990. [4] She served as National President until shortly after the 1993 March on Washington, when her resignation was demanded by unanimous action of the Board of Directors due to consequences relating to several events during the days of the March program. The organization attended the March showing a list of over thirty chapters and affiliated organizations. Not long after the March, that number had dropped to fewer than six active local chapters or affiliates after large numbers of members expressed extreme dissatisfaction with events that took place during the March.
GLBVA was incorporated for the first time, in Vermont, in 1993 by action of then-National President Gene F. Barfield and then-National Vice President Nancy Russell. Upon Barfield's resignation, retired Army LCOL Russell succeeded to the National Presidency in 1994, the first of several incumbencies by her in that position.
In 1994, the national officers of GLBVA held the first meeting ever between a nationwide LGBT military and veterans organization and a member of the President's Cabinet. Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Hershel W. Gober sat down for a meeting with Nancy Russell (of Texas), then National President, Steve Webb (of Michigan), then National Vice President, Bob Hoy (of Florida), then National Vice President for Veterans Affairs, and Gene F. Barfield (of Vermont), then National Secretary and a former National President. Secretary Gober expressed the Administration's commitment to equal access and treatment for all qualified veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs, regardless of sexual orientation. During this same Washington lobbying visit, GLBVA officers presented U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) with a certificate of honorary life membership, the first ever granted by unanimous vote of the Board of Directors.
By 1996, James Darby, a Chicago native who organized the Chicago chapter of GLBVA, became President of the organization, and was received in 1997 by White House Senior Adviser for Public Liaison Richard Socarides [5] and by Pentagon officials. [6] Under Darby's leadership, the "Lexington Declaration" called on U.S. President Bill Clinton to lift the ban on open service in the military by homosexuals. [7]
In 2001, the first American memorial specifically honoring LGBTQ veterans was dedicated in Desert Memorial Park, called the LGBTQ Veterans Memorial. [8] [9] In 2018, a bill was signed into law designating that LGBTQ Veterans Memorial as California's official LGBTQ veterans memorial. Due to this, California became the first state in the nation to officially recognize LGBTQ military veterans. [9] That memorial is an obelisk of South Dakotan mahogany granite with the logo of the GLBVA, now called American Veterans for Equal Rights, on it. [9]
On May 2, 2005, the GLBVA, under president Jim Donovan, changed its name to the American Veterans for Equal Rights. The organization was formally incorporated as a 501(c)(19) organization under president Alan J. Rogue (died 2010). Danny Ingram, a Georgia native and former sergeant of the U.S. Army who was discharged immediately after DADT came into force, succeeded Rogue as president; he represented AVER at the 2010 signature ceremony at which the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 was signed into law. Ingram was succeeded in 2013 by Lieutenant Colonel Steve Loomis (U.S. Army, Ret.), who is the incumbent president.
In 2007, the Chicago Chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. [10] [11]
The organization is chapter-based, and local chapters organize many of their own activities. For example, the Chicago chapter organized a ceremony to mark the end of "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT). [12] With the city of Chicago, AVER sponsors an annual tribute to gay and lesbian veterans. [13]
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people. Instituted during the Clinton administration, the policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December 21, 1993, and was in effect from February 28, 1994, until September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. This relaxation of legal restrictions on service by gays and lesbians in the armed forces was mandated by Public Law 103–160, which was signed November 30, 1993. The policy prohibited people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability".
PFLAG is the United States' largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people and those who love them. PFLAG National is the national organization, which provides support to the PFLAG network of local chapters. PFLAG has nearly 400 chapters across the United States, with more than 350,000 members and supporters.
The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization affiliated with the Republican Party which advocates for equal rights for LGBT+ Americans, by educating the LGBT+ community and Republicans about each other.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) personnel are able to serve in the armed forces of some countries around the world: the vast majority of industrialized, Western countries including some South American countries, such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile in addition to other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Mexico, France, Finland, Denmark and Israel. The rights concerning intersex people are more vague.
Technical Sergeant Leonard Phillip Matlovich was an American Vietnam War veteran, race relations instructor, and recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. He was the first gay service member to purposely out himself to the military to fight their ban on gays, and perhaps the best-known openly gay man in the United States of America in the 1970s next to Harvey Milk. His fight to stay in the United States Air Force after coming out of the closet became a cause célèbre around which the gay community rallied. His case resulted in articles in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, numerous television interviews, and a television movie on NBC. His photograph appeared on the cover of the September 8, 1975, issue of Time magazine, making him a symbol for thousands of gay and lesbian servicemembers and gay people generally. Matlovich was the first named openly gay person to appear on the cover of a U.S. newsmagazine. According to author Randy Shilts, "It marked the first time the young gay movement had made the cover of a major newsweekly. To a movement still struggling for legitimacy, the event was a major turning point."
Andrew Holmes v. California National Guard, 124 F.3d 1126 was a federal court case heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, that upheld the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that restricted service by gays and lesbians in the California National Guard of the United States. The court decided that a member of the National Guard could not be discharged for saying publicly that he or she is homosexual or bisexual, but could be restricted to assignments that did not require recognition by the federal government.
Alan Greg Rogers was an ordained pastor, a U.S. Army major and intelligence officer, a civil rights activist in the gay, lesbian and bisexual military community and the first-known gay combat fatality of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The subsequent coverage of his death in the media sparked a debate over the effect of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy and what information should be included in the biography of a gay military person killed in action.
Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America is an American 2009 political book by Nathaniel Frank that argues that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning openly gay servicemen and women from the United States armed forces weakened military and national security. According to Frank, 12,000 people — 800 of whom had previously been deemed "mission critical" by the U.S. government — were discharged from the military between 1993 and 2008, based on policies that Frank describes as "rooted in denial, and deception, and repression."
The National Equality March was a national political rally that occurred October 11, 2009 in Washington, D.C. It called for equal protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The march was called for by activist David Mixner and implemented by Cleve Jones, and organized by Equality Across America and the Courage Campaign. Kip Williams and Robin McGehee served as co-directors. Leaders like actress Michelle Clunie, Courage Campaign marketing director, Billy Pollina and New York gubernatorial aide Peter Yacobellis hosted the first fundraiser in the spring of 2009. This was the first national march in Washington, D.C. for LGBT rights since the 2000 Millennium March.
Knights Out is an organization of West Point alumni, staff and faculty who support the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people to serve openly in the U.S. military and who wish to educate young officers about the issues and contributions of LGBT troops. The group's name is in reference to the Army Black Knights, West Point's athletic mascot.
The United States military formerly excluded gay men, bisexuals, and lesbians from service. In 1993, the United States Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed, a law instituting the policy commonly referred to as "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT), which allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve as long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation. Although there were isolated instances in which service personnel were met with limited success through lawsuits, efforts to end the ban on openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual people serving either legislatively or through the courts initially proved unsuccessful.
Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, 658 F.3d 1162 was a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of 10 U.S.C. § 654, commonly known as don't ask, don't tell (DADT), which, prior to its repeal, excluded homosexuals from openly serving in the United States military. The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), an organization composed of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Republicans, brought the suit on behalf of LCR members who serve or served in the military and were subject to DADT.
GetEQUAL was, from 2010 to 2018, an American non-profit organization and advocacy group which advocates for LGBT social and political equality through confrontational but non-violent direct action.
OutServe-SLDN was a network of LGBT military personnel, formed as a result of the merger between OutServe and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. OutServe-SLDN was one of the largest LGBT employee resource groups in the world. OutServe was founded by a 2009 graduate of the US Air Force Academy, Josh Seefried and Ty Walrod. There were over 7,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide.
Josh Seefried is an LGBT rights activist, a former captain in the United States Air Force, and a former co-chairman on the Board of Directors of OutServe-SLDN, an association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members of the U.S. Military. A graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2009, Josh was formerly known by his pseudonym JD Smith during his campaign to end the discrimination against lesbians, gays and bisexuals serving openly in the United States military.
LGBT history in the United States spans the contributions and struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, as well as the LGBT social movements they have built.
Miriam Ben-Shalom is an American educator, activist and former Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. After being discharged from the military for homosexuality in 1976, she successfully challenged her discharge in court and returned to military service in 1987—the first openly gay person to be reinstated after being discharged under the military's policy excluding homosexuals from military service. She served until 1990 when the Army succeeded in terminating her service after prolonged judicial proceedings.
The first English-language use of the word "bisexual" to refer to sexual orientation occurred in 1892.
The United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has an LGBTQ+ Program through the Office of Patient Care Services. The “+” sign captures identities beyond LGBTQ, including but not limited to questioning, pansexual, asexual, agender, gender diverse, nonbinary, gender-neutral, and other identities. VHA began collecting data on veteran’s sexual orientation and gender identity in 2022 to inform policy and improve clinical care. There are estimated to be more than one million LGBTQ+ Americans who are military veterans. If LGBTQ+ veterans use VHA at the same rate as non-LGBTQ+ veterans, there could be more than 250,000 LGBTQ+ veterans served by VHA. Using diagnostic codes in medical record data, Blosnich and colleagues found that the prevalence of transgender veterans in VHA (22.9/100,000) is five times higher than reported prevalence of transgender-related diagnoses in the general population (4.3/100,000). Brown and Jones identified 5,135 transgender veterans receiving care in VHA using a broader set of diagnostic codes. Brown also notes that this methodology fails to identify transgender veterans who have not disclosed their gender identity to providers, those who don’t meet criteria for a diagnosis, or veterans who get their transition-related care outside of the VHA.
In the past most lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) personnel had major restrictions placed on them in terms of service in the United States military. As of 2010 sexual orientation and gender identity in the United States military varies greatly as the United States Armed Forces have become increasingly openly diverse in the regards of LGBTQ people and acceptance towards them.