OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2021
RE: 10th Anniversary of Freedom to Serve
Contact: AVER Public Affairs, 678.596.1311 publicaffairs@aver.us
San Antonio, TX “Military City USA” (SEP 15, 2021) – American Veterans for Equal Rights, the nation’s oldest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender veterans service organization, joins other progressive patriots from all walks of life in commemorating the 10th anniversary of the September 20, 2011, implementation of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the law that barred LGBT people from serving in the United States military. AVER celebrates this important civil rights milestone, and we honor the long and determined grassroots effort by service members and veterans, men and women, to overturn the nearly 100-year-old policies that denied the freedom to serve to LGBT Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen and Coastguardsmen. We acknowledge the diverse efforts, strategies, struggles and sacrifices by many individuals and organizations that led to the repeal of the discriminatory DADT law. Work remains. Until protections for LGBT service members are codified into law, the right to serve remains at the whim of politicians. Just as Donald Trump reversed the Obama-era policy that allowed transgender volunteers the right to serve, future commanders-in-chief could change policy at will. The reinstatement of transgender service implemented by President Biden must be protected by law. AVER envisions a military that fully reflects the diversity of the American people, where every individual who serves is free to reach their full potential unburdened by policies that discriminate against any service member for any reason. The defenders of our nation’s liberty must be, first and foremost, the representatives of the freedom they serve to defend.