This is some useful information from our partner organization over at Modern Military Association of America (MMAA).
Download PDF here: VA Benefits without the DOD Discharge Upgrade
or you can view the article on the website: (Information starts on page 24-25)
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.
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.
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.
serve. We want to thank our veterans for the commitment they made to serve our country.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2023
RE: National Defense Authorization Act Denies Care to Service Members
Contact: AVER Public Affairs, 678.596.1311, dannyingram1776@gmail.com
San Antonio, TX “Military City USA” (JUL 14, 2023)
“Congress should never pick and choose which service members will be treated for medical conditions and which will not. The denial of critical care based on political grandstanding is a betrayal of a sacred obligation to care for soldiers and their families. Breaking that obligation undermines national security by eroding the trust of the men and women who volunteer to defend our nation’s freedom.”
American Veterans for Equal Rights, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ Veterans Service Organization, joins other VSOs from around the country in expressing anger over the betrayal of a sacred obligation made to the men and women who serve our country in the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act. FY2024 NDAA denies life-saving gender-affirming care not only to Transgender service members but the Transgender children of service members. The American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and American Medical Association support gender-affirming care as critical in the treatment of Gender Dysphoria.
The Department of Defense utilizes evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to care for every service member who seeks care. In addition to world-class healthcare services such as chemical exposure and burn treatment, prosthetic devices, gynecological care and non-selective abortion care, the DOD provides full support for mental disorders such as substance abuse disorders, PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder, and Gender Dysphoria.
Using their proven clinical practice guidelines the DOD seeks to develop and provide the very best care they can to every service member and their children. DOD medical services are there to save lives, not to practice politics.
Every man and woman who serves our country deserves the very best treatment available. No exceptions. Thank all who serve. Honor all who serve. Protect all who serve.
Approved by,
Julz Carey
President, AVER
aver.us