Transgender Military Summit: Integrity, Duty, Leadership

During Pride month, in early June, Transgender American Veterans Association and WPATH held the nation's first Transgender Military Summit in Washington D.C.; followed by a laying of a wreath, honoring all American veterans, at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.  The roundtable summit brought together some two dozen of the nation's leading advocates, experts, supporters, and transgender veterans, giving visibility in the nation's capitol, for a detailed discussion on the issues, integrity, duty, and leadership of the honorable service of patriotic transgender Americans in our armed forces.

Featured  speakers included Dr. Jillian Shipherd, Director for the LGBT Health Program at the Veterans Health Administration and a Clinical Research Psychologist at the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System as well as being an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine.  She spoke about Transgender Veterans and the Veteran’s Health Administration; M. Joycelyn Elders, M.D., former Surgeon General of the United States, who spoke regarding the Transgender Military Ban; and Phyllis Randolph Frye, Eagle Scout, Army Veteran, attorney, engineer ,grandparent, and first openly Transgender American judge; who spoke on Destroying TG Stereotypes Plus Legal / Political Issues.

Roundtable guests and other speakers included Heather Hubert of the Michael Palm Center, Shannon Minter –NCLR, Dr. Ajani Nugent - University of Miami, Kristin Beck - Retired US Navy Seal, Sasha Buchert – Lambda Legal , Stephen Lessard – Orrick Law Firm, Paula Neira – Navy Transgender Veteran. Sheri Swokowski – Army Transgender Veteran,  and TAVA President and board members Evan Young –Major US Army Retired, Zander Keig, and Jenelle Levenque, among others.

Evan Young and Gene Silvestri at the Summit

On Friday afternoon June 8th Evan Young, Major USA, Retired, in full dress uniform, along with Judge Phyllis Frye, and Laila Ireland, laid a TAVA wreath in a proper ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington.

TAVA also proudly marched in the Washington DC Pride Parade on Saturday June 9th, to wild cheers from the crowds.

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