President Obama, in his State of the Union address on Wednesday January 27th, said, “This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.” The President preceded that by asserting his belief in true American values, “Abroad, America’s greatest source of strength has always been our ideals. The same is true at home. We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal, that no matter who you are or what you look like, if you abide by the law you should be protected by it, that if you adhere to our common values you should be treated no different than anyone else. We must continually renew this promise.”
Category Archives: Press Releases
Gay Vet, Discharged Under DADT, Elected National President of AVER
Danny Ingram, a former US Army Sergeant who was among the first to be discharged in 1994 under the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) law, was elected president of American Veterans For Equal Rights (AVER) at its convention in Ft. Lauderdale 15-18 Oct. Sgt Ingram, of Atlanta, will lead the largest national veteran service organization dedicated to serving the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender vets, and advocating the repeal of the law banning open service of gay military personnel.
Introducing: AVER West Tennessee
reprinted from the Gay Military Signal:
In 1647, Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers addressed the English Parliament. A line from their address stands out to me as a former Marine and gay man: “On becoming soldiers, we have not ceased to be citizens.”
Indeed, the backbone of this country has been and will always be its “Citizen Soldier.”
AVER 2009 National Convention
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Oct. 14-18, 2009 – Ft. Lauderdale
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The Florida Gold Coast Chapter of American Veterans of Equal Rights (AVER) is hosting a national convention for LGBT Veterans from October 14th through October 18th in Fort Lauderdale/Wilton Manors. AVER is the nation’s only VA-recognized LGBT Veterans Service Organization and serves our nation’s most vulnerable and neglected veteran population.
Margo Moon interviews COL Grethe Cammermeyer
Interview by Margo Moon originally posted at “Do Ask, I’ll Tell,” reprinted with permission.
Most of us have a degree of control over how and when we come out as gay or lesbian. Not Grethe Cammermeyer. In 1989, an ambitious Col. Cammermeyer had applied to the War College and was in the middle of an interview for top-secret clearance when she had to decide between making the truthful statement that she was a lesbian or denying that truth and advancing toward her dream of promotion to general.
Nancy Russell seated on AVER Board
On Friday July 17, 2009, AVER President James Donovan announced that former AVER president Nancy Russell will resume her place on the AVER Board of Directors as AVER Past President. Miss Russell had been removed as president at a former board hearing in 2004.
According to Chief Donovan, “It gives me great pleasure to announce that LTC Nancy Russell is taking her place on the Board of Directors as Past President. At the request of some members, the case against Nancy was reopened, investigated and discussed in full by the board, and it was determined that her hearing was, in the opinion of the board, flawed. Therefore, it was the unanimous decision of the board to exonerate Nancy of all charges and to welcome her back as Past President.”