Author Archives: James Apedaile

re: Trump Ban on Transgender Service Jeopardizes National Security

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Colonel Bree Fram, United States Space Force, is one of the highest ranking Transgender officers in the US military.

Col. Bree Fram, Bio (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich) Colonel Bree Fram, United States Space Force, is one of the highest ranking Transgender officers in the US military.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2025

RE:  Trump Ban on Transgender Service Jeopardizes National Security

Contact:  AVER Public Affairs, 678.596.1311, dannyingram1776@gmail.com

San Antonio, TX “Military City USA” (JAN 29, 2025)

President Donald Trump’s ban on Transgender military service members jeopardizes national security by removing thousands of highly skilled personnel from the critical job of safeguarding our nation from attack.

“The soldier who is wounded on the battlefield does not care if the medic who saves his life is Transgender,” said AVER National President Penn Baker, who is herself a Transgender veteran of the United States Navy. “AVER has been fighting for LGBT service for 35 years,” she said. “We’ve lost battles and we’ve won battles. This is a battle we’re not going to lose.”

American Veterans for Equal Rights is the nation’s oldest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Veterans Service Organization in the United States, founded to promote LGBT service equality in 1990.

#transmilitary

militarytransrights.org

Highlight: Logan Ireland

Master Sergeant Logan Ireland serves in the US Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) as a Special Agent at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. In his current position, Logan works to identify, neutralize, and exploit threats to the United States. Logan leads over a dozen Special Agents across 16 countries as they conduct counterintelligence operations to keep America safe from terrorist activity worldwide. He has completed multiple overseas tours in Afghanistan, Qatar, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Logan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master’s degree in Military Studies with dual concentrations in Strategic Leadership and Joint Warfare. He is also a graduate of the US Army Air Assault School. Logan is an accomplished leader within the U.S. Air Force who happens to be transgender.

Logan is one of an estimated thousands of transgender service members currently serving in our US Armed Forces whose critical skills in securing our nation’s national defense are endangered by president-elect Donald Trump’s threat to fire all transgender service members “on day one.” The removal of highly trained members of the military jeopardizes national security at a time when terrorist threats and growing tensions around the world are a genuine and imminent threat both overseas and here at home. It would be irresponsible in the extreme to remove these highly trained military technicians at a time when they are most needed.

As the nation’s oldest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender veterans service organization, American Veterans for Equal Rights strongly urges the president-elect to reconsider his decision to remove transgender service members from our armed forces. Dedicated and highly skilled military professionals like Master Sergeant Logan Ireland should be honored for their service and valued for the critical contributions they make in defending our nation’s freedom and protecting our citizens from the threat of attack. Transgender soldiers, Marines, sailors, airmen, coast guardsmen, and guardians stand guard around the world with dedication, skill, and perseverance just like every other member of the armed forces. In the interest of fairness, respect, and our nation’s defense, we urgently recommend that they continue to do so.

Frank Kameny’s Birthday

May 21 is the birthday of Dr. Franklin E. Kameny, one of the most prominent LGBTQ+ activists and organizers in American history. Dr. Kameny was a Jewish, US Army World War II veteran and Harvard PhD. 

Following the war Dr. Kameny worked as an astronomer for the US Army Map Service where he became a victim of Senator Joe McCarthy’s infamous persecution of LGBT Americans known as the Lavender Scare. This persecution was featured in the recent film “Fellow Travelers” starring Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey.     

In 1957 Kameny sued the US Civil Service Commission after he was fired from his job because of his sexual orientation.

On April 17, 1965, Dr. Kameny picketed the White House, one of the first public LGBTQ demonstrations in US history. In 1971 he became the first openly LGBTQ candidate for US Congress. He successfully advocated for the removal of homosexuality as a mental disease by the American Psychiatric Association. 

He searched for gay US service members to challenge the military’s anti-gay policy, and in 1975 encouraged USAF SSgt Leonard Matlovich to come out in order to challenge the ban.

Kameny helped found some of the nation’s premiere LGBT organizations, including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He fought to change America’s image of LGBTQ people, coining the phrase “Gay is Good” in 1968.

In 2009 he stood beside President Barack Obama in the Oval Office as the president signed an executive order granting benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees. That same year, Dr. Kameny received a formal apology from the U.S. government for his firing. It was delivered by John Berry the openly gay director of the Office of Personnel Management.

Dr. Kameny lived to see the end of the ban on lesbian, gay, and bisexual people serving openly in the military, an effort for which he had fought for so many years. Frank Kameny died on October 11, 2011 (National Coming Out Day) and is buried in Washington’s Congressional Cemetery.

His home in Washington has been named a National Historic Landmark and a street in DC bears his name, “Frank Kameny Way.” Dr. Frank Kameny is a Life Member of American Veterans for Equal Rights and a recipient of AVER’s highest honor, the Leonard Matlovich Medal.

Anti-LGBTQ+ Provisions Stripped from NDAA

FROM AVER NATIONAL
January 12, 2024

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 9, 2024

RE:  Anti-LGBTQ+ Provisions Stripped from NDAA

Contact:  AVER Public Affairs, 678.596.1311, dannyingram1776@gmail.com
San Antonio, TX “Military City USA” (JAN 9, 2024)

On December 26, 2023, President Biden signed into law H.R. 2670, the “National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024.” The version of the must-pass legislation signed by the president had been stripped of a number of controversial anti-LGBTQ+ amendments added to the bill by conservative members of the House. These amendments included bans on gender confirmation treatment to service members and their dependents, bans on displays of Pride flags at DOD facilities, and bans of LGBTQ-positive books in DOD school libraries.

“The passage of the NDAA without anti-LGBTQ+ amendments is a huge victory for LGBTQ+ service members and the United States Military,” said Penn Baker, National President of American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), the nation’s oldest LGBTQ+ Veterans Service Organization. “AVER and our allies had worked with members of Congress throughout much of the previous year to remove these harmful sections of the NDAA,” said Baker, AVER’s first Transgender president. “This was a significant accomplishment for us, but we must remain ‘ever-vigilant’ for the return of such harmful legislation, especially in an election year where conservative law makers work to score political points from their base rather than serve the needs of our service members.”

AVER remains committed to Gender Confirmation Treatment, including surgeries and hormone treatment to transgender children, which are therapies approved by the American Pediatric Association, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the World Health Association.

Ever Vigilant

Penn Baker Veteran USN
505-281-2269
AVER National President
We must not stand by and watch another’s civil rights violated and do nothing,
lest we make it more likely our rights will be violated.

 

RE: AVER National Convention, New Board Elected

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 19, 2023

RE:  AVER National Convention, New Board Elected

Contact:  AVER Public Affairs, 678.596.1311, dannyingram1776@gmail.com

San Antonio, TX “Military City USA” (OCTOBER 19, 2023) – American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) held its biennial convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, this past weekend. The Gold Coast Chapter hosted delegates from around the country for “Operation Pushback.” Speakers included representatives from the VA who described the many changes implemented under Secretary Denis McDonough to address healthcare for LGBTQ+ Veterans.

Other speakers included US Navy Commander Emily “Hawking” Shilling, National President of SPARTA, and Cassandra Leigh Williamson, National President of Transgender and Diverse Veterans of America. Much of the convention focused on the current status of women’s and transgender care by the VA, the status of Transgender service, and threats to LGBTQ+ military service in Congress and by conservative politicians across the country. The Truman Amendment, which would codify the current Trans-inclusive military service policy will be a priority for AVER and other LGBTQ+ Military and Veteran Service Organizations in the coming year, along with protecting the gains made since the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.                            (Emily “Hawkling” Shilling, Penn Baker, Cassandra Leigh Williamson)

Penn Baker of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was elected as AVER’s next National President. Penn will be the first Transgender veteran to lead the nation’s oldest LGBTQ+ VSO.

A traditional AVER military banquet was held on Sunday evening. Ft. Lauderdale’s openly gay mayor, The Honorable Dean Trantilis, attended the event and assured delegates that Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ rhetoric did not represent all Floridians.

(Danny Ingram, Fort Lauderdale Mayor The Honorable Dean Trantilis, Joe Zuniga)

Long time military and AIDS activist Joe Zuniga, author of “Soldier of the Year,” delivered the keynote address. Mr. Zuniga currently serves as President of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care and President and CEO of Fast Track Cities Institute which utilizes public health policy to achieve an end to the epidemics of HIV, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis.

Danny Ingram, President Emeritus, received the Leonard Matlovich Medal for Distinguished Service to the LGBTQ+ Military Community.