Note: This holiday season, in lieu of a traditional holiday gift guide, we'll be featuring a different LGBT organization each day for our "30 Days Of LGBT Giving." Check back tomorrow for a look at another incredible group that's working tirelessly on behalf of the LGBT community.
In October, two prominent LGBT groups -- OutServe and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) -- merged to become OutServe-SLDN, a national organization that "supports, defends and empowers LGBT service members, veterans and their families" in addition to strengthening "military culture by securing equal opportunity, equal protection and equal benefits, without threat of harassment or discrimination, for LGBT service members and veterans."
With it being over a year since the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," gay military couples still do not have benefits equal to those of their straight colleagues because of the Defense Of Marriage Act, which doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage. Some of those benefits include equal family housing allowance and the ability to transfer bases together and OutServe-SLDN continues to fight for those rights, among many other objectives.
Along with the merge, the national LGBT organization appointed openly transgender Allyson Robinson as its new leader. Robinson, who is an Army veteran and graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, perhaps signals the next battle in transgender rights and visibility in the military. The repeal of DADT did not include trans people and they still face the threat of being discharged.
To find out more about this wonderful organization and what it does, visit their website, and find them on Facebook and Twitter @OutServeSLDN.
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