Category Archives: News

AVER makes an effort to maintain links to news articles, from around the USA and the world at large, pertaining to the LGBT community, veterans and/or service members. If you find a relevant news article that is not listed, please send us the link via our Contact page, and we will assess the content for inclusion in our News lists.Please note:1. We scour the internet frequently to ensure that our news links are for articles published by media outlets. If you find a dead link, please let us know. For [non-AVER] organizational press releases, please see our Links directory.2. We will sometimes include articles pertaining to legislative matters; however, as a 501(c)(3) organization, we do not post news pertaining to specific political candidates, as this could be misconstrued as endorsement.

Ninth Circuit Halts Enforcement of DADT

ATLANTA, GA – American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) joins Servicemembers United Executive Director and AVER Life Member Alexander Nicholson in applauding today’s order issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifting its own stay of a lower court’s injunction barring enforcement of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. This move once again renders “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” unenforceable by the Pentagon.  Nicholson was the sole veteran plaintiff on the case spearheaded by the Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBT political organization.

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House Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing on Oversight of DADT Repeal

ATLANTA: On Thursday April 7th the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee held an oversight hearing on the ongoing DADT repeal implementation. The service chiefs of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force were asked to testify before the committee and answer questions. From the opening remarks of the ranking majority member of the Committee, and the tone of the questions, it was clear that there had been an expectation that the service chiefs would express the same reservations and or opposition to allowing open gay service in our armed forces as they did early in 2010 at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings. They didn’t.

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AVER Statement on President’s Decision to Stop Defending DOMA

American Veterans For Equal Rights (AVER), with chapters across America, has been serving the needs of the nation’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender veterans since 1990, and advocating for full equal rights for our veterans and patriotic volunteers serving in our armed forces. AVER applauds the Obama Administration’s decision to stop defending the discriminatory Defense of Marriage ACT (DOMA).

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AVER to offer Lifetime Membership to all vets 80 and over

ATLANTA – To commemorate the end of the United States military’s nearly ninety year policy of discrimination against gay, lesbian, and bisexual military service members, and to honor senior LGBT veterans for their many contributions to our great nation and our community, American Veterans for Equal Rights will institute free Lifetime Membership to all veterans age 80 and over. AVER wishes to grant this privilege to our LGBT seniors, a group which has often been undervalued by our community despite their struggles and sacrifices to forge the freedom that gay people experience today.

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Donate to AVER for 2010 Tax Deduction

Today is the last possible day for 2010 tax-deductible donations. Our LGBT service members need their marriages to be federally recognized, they need fair housing protection, their spouses need employment protection, and so much more. Our LGBT veterans need VA medical care free from discrimination, the ability to apply for joint VA-backed mortgages, and so much more.

AVER is in this for the long haul, and we are all volunteers! This entry was posted in Newsflash on by .

Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

ATLANTA—American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), the nation’s only all-volunteer LGBT Veterans Service Organization, applauds the passage of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010. AVER acknowledges the courage, commitment, and determined leadership of President Barack H. Obama in fulfilling his promise to repeal the DADT law that harmed the United States military, endangered its mission, and jeopardized the lives of American service members by removing critical battlefield skills from the global war on terror.

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