The newly created OutServe-SLDN
military group on Thursday announced Allyson Robinson as its new
chief.
Robinson, a former commissioned officer
in the Army, is leaving her post at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
to helm the group.
OutServe and Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network (SLDN) announced in July they would be merging, a
process which is expected to be completed this weekend.
“I am honored to lead the new
OutServe-SLDN into this next phase of advocacy and action on behalf
of our brave LGBT service members, veterans, and their families,”
Robinson said in a statement announcing her new role. “Until they
are guaranteed equal opportunity, recognition, support and benefits,
our mission is incomplete. We cannot and will not leave them
behind.”
Robinson, who is transgender, said the
group's mission post-“Don't Ask, Don't Tell” will be advancing
equality for LGBT troops.
“We have not achieved full equality
for LGBT servicemembers,” she told told BuzzFeed,
“and I think that's something that Americans care about. I think
they care about the way that our troops and their families are
treated.”
“We're in the middle of a fight, just
as certainly as we were before 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' was ever
repealed. There have been some, many perhaps, who have been under
this notion, 'What's left to do?' There is so much left to do.”
“I think a crucial part of that
strategy is ensuring that the stories of transgender servicemembers
and veterans are being told,” the 1998 West Point graduate added.
“Trans people have served from our nation's founding, just as LGB
people have. Because of the state of medical and readiness
regulations, they continue to be forced into silence. Having an
organization like ours, that can help to elevate those stories and
make them a part of the conversation, is very, very important. The
more we tell those stories, the closer we are to winning that fight.”
(A video introducing Robinson is
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