Category Archives: Action Alerts

Watch this section for action / activist alerts from AVER!

Transgender Veteran Survey being conducted by US Dept of Veterans Affairs

Transgender Veterans Research
The Veterans Administration, via the Puget Sound VA, is conducting one of the first VA research projects regarding Transgender Veterans, in order to be able to provide better, relevant, and more competent service.  The questionnaire is lengthy and could cause some stress for individual veterans; but we believe that the potential for directly informing the VA and for improved VA treatment makes participation worthwhile.  See below.

Seeking transgender individuals who served in the military!

Are you MTF, FTM, or any other gender that is different from your birth sex? Did you previously serve in the military? If so, we invite you to participate in a study focusing on your life experiences as a transgender Veteran and the challenges you may have faced. 

The goal of the Transgender Veteran Survey is to better understand the specific experiences of transgender Veterans and promote their health and well-being. We are especially interested in hearing the diverse voices within our communities.

This is an anonymous, web-based survey that may take approximately 1 hour to complete, and is conducted by researchers at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. For more information, please go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/transvet, or contact the Transgender Veteran Survey staff at (206) 277-1511

AVER Action Alerts

Military Readiness Enhancement Act.

On 03 March 2009, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) introduced H.R. 1283 of the 111th Congress. This bill is known as the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, and if enacted, will hail the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and all discrimination based upon sexual-orientation within the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security [concerning the USCG when not acting under the USN], by overturning 10 U.S.C. §654.  Full text of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act – H.R.1283(111) can be found at THOMAS.Since Rep. Tauscher has been appointed to the Department of State, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) has taken up the banner of leadership for MREA2009.  Rep. Murphy is working very diligently to bring more members of Congress on board as co-sponsors.  The bill already has more than 160 sponsors, leaving less than 60 to go to meet the “218” milestone – a simply majority.

First Step…

To find out whether your Representative has signed on as a co-sponsor for this bill, check the THOMAS Co-Sponsor list.  If your Representative’s name is not listed here, we encourage you to either call or send them an email/letter urging them to support this bill. To contact your Representative, you can use the US House of Representatives search form. (in addition to postal address, this link also provides telephone/fax info, and an email contact form)

If you place a telephone call, tell the person who answers that you are a constituent, and that you are calling to urge the Representative to co-sponsor the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (bill number H.R. 1283) — a bill to lift the ban on “homosexual acts” in the Armed Forces, which explicitly includes simply referring to oneself with the terms “gay” or “lesbian,” and henceforth would permit open and honest service, and ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, real or perceived.  After calling, feel free to use the comment form below to tell us how your telephone call went. All comments are initially screened.

Second Step…

Once you finish contacting your Representative, encourage all of your family, friends, and colleagues to contact their own Representatives likewise.  They need not live in your same district or even state.  To forward this page via email, use the email link at the top right.

Bill tracking at a glance…

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