This Memorial Day, may we spare a thought for all those who have given their lives in service to our country, including service members who were LGBTQ.
They include Staff Sergeant Donna Johnson, a member of the military police and a lesbian mom, who was killed on active duty in Afghanistan in 2012. Her wife had to fight for survivor benefits, but last year, the National Guard named a readiness center in her honor.
They also include many other LGBTQ service members, who often hid their queer identities in order to serve. Transgender service members must now once again do so, despite putting their lives on the line like any other member of our armed forces. They are fighting for our freedoms just as much as anyone else who serves. To ask them to do so under false pretenses of who they are—or to tell them they cannot serve—is a stain on all our ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice for all.
Kudos to those working to allow all Americans, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, to serve if they are otherwise qualified and to do so without needing to hide their identities. A special shout-out here to the Modern Military Association of America (MMAA), the nation’s largest non-profit organization for LGBTQ service members, military spouses, veterans and allies, which was recently formed through the merger of the American Military Partner Association and OutServe-SLDN.
As we remember today those who have fallen, however, may we also work towards a world where no one ever need lose any loved one to armed conflict.