July 2017 – David Mariner

Follow Friday: Transgender Veterans and Service Members

February 27, 2019July 28, 2017 by David Mariner

An estimated 15,000 Transgender Americans are Veterans or Active Service Members in the U.S. Armed Forces (Williams Institute). This Follow Friday is an opportunity to meet just a few of them. Follow these committed and brave activists and share their stories with your friends. It’s important to put some names and faces to the conversations that are currently happening about trans service.

Ken Ochoa

twitter.com/kenmaverick

Drill Seargant Ken Ochoa joined the Army in 2010 and began his transition in 2014, long before it was allowed. Ken has been serving openly as a transgender man for more than year.

Ken was planning to re-enlist in the Army this year. In a recent article in BBC News, however, he states:

“”Now I don’t even know if I can do that,” he said. “It just seems like chaos, so many unknowns.”

Jamie Lee Henry

twitter.com/MAJ_JLee_MD

Jamie Lee Henry joined the Army at the young age of seventeen and currently serves as a doctor and major in the Army’s Medical Corps. She also is a transgender woman.

Jamie Lee Henry came out in May 2015 in a Buzfeed article written by Chris Geidner

Jamie is the first known active-duty Army officer to come out as transgender. The Army granted her request to officially change her name and gender. Jamie gives credit to her commanding officer for supporting her during this time, telling Buzzfeed News: “My commander said, ‘I don’t care who you love, I don’t care how you identify, I want you to be healthy and I want you to be able to do your job.”

Evan Young

twitter.com/maj_evan_young

Evan Young is the President of the Transgender American Veterans Association, which works to ensure that transgender veterans will receive appropriate care and advocate for transgender veterans with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense. Evan graduated from basic training in 1929 eventually rising to the rank of Major before his retirement in 2013.

Karen Kendra Holmes

twitter.com/karenholmes

Karen Kendra Holmes works for the Corporation for National & Community Service. She is also, however a Staff Sergeant with the Maryland Defense Force

In 2012 she received the Soldier of the Year Award from the by the Maryland State Guard Association, and in 2013 she received the National Soldier of the Year Award from the State Guard Association of the United States.

Karen volunteers her time with a wide variety of organizations including PFLAG Metro DC, the American Red Cross, and Equality Maryland.

Brynn Tannehil

twitter.com/brynntannehill

Brynn Tannehill graduated from the Naval Academy with a B.S. in computer science in 1997. She earned her Naval Aviator wings in 1999 and flew SH-60B helicopters and P-3C maritime patrol aircraft during three deployments between 2000 and 2004. She served as a campaign analyst while deployed overseas to 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain from 2005 to 2006. In 2008 Brynn earned a M.S. in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology and transferred from active duty to the Naval Reserves.

In 2008 Brynn began working as a senior defense research scientist in private industry. Brynn serves on the Board of Directors for Trans United. Brynn and her wife Janis currently live in Springfield, VA, with their three children.

Shane Ortega

twitter.com/onlyshaneortega

Shane Ortega is an American Soldier who served with both the U.S. Army and the U.S Marines. Ortega has served three hostile fire combat tours, two in Iraq, one in Afghanistan.

Ortega has used to his personal experience to become a powerful advocate for transgender service members. Now retired, Ortega pursues a wide variety of interests. He is a sought after public speaker, community activist, a professionally ranked body-builder, and a brand ambassador with #ILoveGay.

Laila Ireland

twitter.com/lailaireland

Laila Ireland served in the Army as a combat nurse. An Iraq veteran and transgender woman, her service included three combat tours.

Laila is married to Logan Ireland, an openly trans man who currently is serving in the Airforce.

As members of SPARTA, Laila and her husband have been powerful advocates for the transgender community. Find out more about Laila and Logan in this recent article.

Kristen Beck

twitter.com/valor4us

Kristen Beck is a retired United States Navy SEAL who gained public attention in 2013 when she came out as a trans woman. She published her memoir in June 2013, Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL’s Journey to Coming out Transgender, detailing her experiences.[1]

Beck served in the U.S. Navy for twenty years and is the first openly transgender former U.S. Navy SEAL.

Transgender Service Members and Veterans

Young, Muslim, & Halfway Out of the Closet

September 10, 2017July 18, 2017 by Guest Columnist

Coming out. Diana Ross, emotional YouTube videos and dusty old closets are just some of the things that spring to mind, but the truth is everybody’s definition is unique. For me the process began long before I opened the closet door. Coming from a Muslim background I used to pray to God to straighten me out and so naturally I avoided pornography and all the sin that comes with it for longer than most horny teens. When I finally had my sexual awakening I felt guilty at first, but the more exposure I had to this strange yet familiar gay world and the more people I spoke to, the more I began to accept myself and think maybe I don’t have to marry a woman and have kids in a dark closet. The first step is coming out to yourself because if you can’t come out to yourself, how in the hell you gonna come out to anyone else?!

My sisters were always going to be the first people I told – at the ripe old age of 19 in a Wahaca restaurant. I was fairly certain they would take it well but you always have that doubt in the back of your mind. Everyone always talks about the feeling of a weight being lifted off your shoulders but I felt more nervous and weirded out by the whole situation. Like I said everyone’s experience is different and you should never compare yourself to others. Nevertheless, it has allowed us to grow closer and I hope this continues. Meeting up with my oblivious parents the next day, after deep chats with my sister was bizarre to say the least, but having someone to talk to is always better than no one.

Over that summer I told everyone close to me who I thought would take it well and thankfully they all did. At first it all seems very serious and formal so it can be difficult to know how to approach the reveal. However, I found that the more open I was the easier it became to casually drop the bombshell, or not feel the need to make a point of it because it’s already obvious and they clearly don’t give two shits. It’s 2017, I’ve told more than one person over Snapchat for God’s sake.

University is liberating for everyone but it can be especially important for LGBT+ people to grow their often-suppressed personality, away from potential pressures and glaring eyes at home. This was undoubtedly the case for me. For the first time, I could meet people and be realer than I ever had before. I’m still working on finding my authentic self but that is what coming out is all about. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would be attending drag shows with gay friends, becoming the BAME representative for the LGBT+ society or marching in a pride parade, but this and so much more is what you have to look forward to. All you have to do is turn that key.

I am speaking to you a year on from first opening that closet door, with one foot in and one foot out. Primarily due to unanswered questions about how my religion can reconcile with my sexuality and the fact that my parents are still in the dark. It’s not easy for me to enlighten them because they are practicing Muslims who are against homosexuality. This has created a barrier which prevents us from growing close as I have to act straight in front of them, or rather just exist. For this reason I have considered switching that light on as early as the end of this summer. I know it will not be easy at first and it may even drive us further apart, but I live for the chance that we could have a better relationship. I can’t see them die having lived a lie.

Being stuck in the closet for so long has forced me to suppress my personality to the extent that I don’t even know who the real me is. But I like to think that a year from now I could be finding myself to the tune of RuPaul’s latest gay anthem, as far away as possible from that dark closet I used to call home, along with many of you.

Peace and love,

Someone like you x

Support is available. The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) works to support, empower and connect LGBTQ Muslims. Find out more at www.muslimalliance.org.

The Issues Facing LGBT Older Adults

July 13, 2017 by David Mariner

It is estimated that there are approximately 2.7 million LGBT adults aged 50 and older in the United States, 1.1 million of whom are 65 and older. Understanding Issues Facing LGBT Older Adults provides an overview of their unique needs and experiences so that service providers, advocates, the aging network, and policymakers can consider these factors when serving this population or passing laws that impact older adults and the LGBT community.

This report was written by SAGE USA and the Movement Advancement Project. Download the complete report below:

Understanding Issues Facing LGBT Older Adults

The Shower of Stoles Project

July 10, 2017 by David Mariner

The Shower of Stoles is a collection of over a thousand liturgical stoles and other sacred items representing the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of faith. These religious leaders have served in thirty-two denominations and faith traditions, in six countries, and on three continents. Each stole contains the story of a GLBT person who is active in the life and leadership of their faith community in some way: minister, elder, deacon, teacher, missionary, musician, administrator, or active layperson. This extraordinary collection celebrates the gifts of GLBT persons ministering in countless ways, while also lifting up those who have been excluded from service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The collection bears witness to the huge loss of leadership that the church has brought upon itself because of its own unjust policies. The vast majority of the stoles have been sent in by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people themselves. For more information contact the National LGBT Task Force. WelcomingResources.org

Unjust: LGBTQ Youth Incarcerated in the Juvenile Justice System

September 21, 2017July 7, 2017 by David Mariner

Unjust: LGBTQ Youth Incarcerated in the Juvenile Justice System examines how LGBTQ youth who are incarcerated in juvenile detention and correctional facilities face bias in adjudication, and mistreatment and abuse in confinement facilities. LGBTQ youth also lack supportive services when leaving the criminal and juvenile justice systems, often forcing them back into negative interactions with law enforcement.

Given that nearly 40% of incarcerated girls in identify as LGB and 85-90% of incarcerated LGBTQ youth are youth of color, it is crucial that any effort to change the way youth in the United States engage with the juvenile justice system must consider the unique experiences of LGBTQ youth. This spotlight report highlights the experiences of LGBTQ youth incarcerated in the juvenile justice system.

Click below to download the full report written by Movement Advancement Project, Center for American Progress, and Youth First

Unjust: LGBTQ Youth Incarcerated in the Juvenile Justice System