Press Releases
Date: July 18, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY: MEA Co-Sponsors Armed Forces Reception
as part of kick-off for Fredericksburg Pride
When: Thursday, August 24, 2006, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Where: The Loft-Fredericks, 1005 Princess Anne Street,
Fredericksburg, Virginia.
MEA will co-sponsor an “Armed Forces Reception”
on Thursday evening, August 24, as
part of the kick-off event for Fredericksburg Pride.
The reception will bring together gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) veterans and
allies from Fredericksburg and
surrounding areas, including Washington, DC, for a night
of pride and camaraderie.
Events start Thursday evening, August 24, with a World
Class Menu offered by the host
restaurant/bar the Loft-Fredericks, located in historic
downtown Fredericksburg, starting
at 5:00 p.m. Those who dine in Fredericks restaurant
downstairs will be granted free
admission to all upstairs events at the Loft that evening.
The MEA-sponsored Armed Forces Reception will begin
at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $9
and includes two half-priced drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
Admission is free to all
servicemembers and veterans who attend in uniform. A
brief presentation will explain
the history and purpose of MEA, what MEA is doing in
Virginia to bring an end to the
military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell” policy, why Fredericksburg’s Congresswoman,
Jo
Ann Davis, could play a key role in the policy’s
repeal, and what the people of
Fredericksburg and Stafford County can do to help.
Starting at 10:00 p.m., attendees at the Armed Forces
Reception will be able to
stay for a live performance by the indie rock band the
Wandas, free of charge, as the
kickoff event for Fredericksburg Pride.
For more information, please contact: Jim Maloney,
Executive Director, Military Equality Alliance, 415-370-3313,
jmaloney@militaryequality.org, or Lara Ballard, Board
Co-Chair, at 202-408-0087.
Military Equality Alliance (MEA)
Website: www.militaryequality.org
E-mail: info@militaryequality.org
Address: P.O. Box 190869, Dallas, TX 75219
Date: July 7, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY: Town Hall Meeting on “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell”
When: Saturday, July 29, 2006, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Fred Heutte Center, 1000 Botetourt Gardens,
Norfolk, VA 23507,
ph. 757-441-2513.
Who: CAPT Robert M. Rankin, USN (Ret.), M.D.
COL Thomas F. Field, USA (Ret.)
CPO Vivien H. Viloria, USN (Ret.)
Roxie Hoven (U.S. Navy, 1986-1995)
Four openly gay/lesbian military veterans, all longtime
Virginia
residents, will lead a roundtable discussion on the
military’s “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, how it affects
the
people of Virginia, and what can be done to change this
policy. The
panel will be moderated by Lara Ballard (Captain, U.S.
Army,
1991-1995), MEA Board Co-Chair and
Regional Grassroots Coordinator for Virginia.
All four panelists have had long and distinguished
military careers,
flying in the face of the notion that homosexuality
is incompatible
with military service. Captain Rankin is a
Vietnam combat veteran and career Navy officer. After
retiring from
the Navy in 1980, he served for nearly 20 years as the
Chief of
Psychiatry and Mental Health Services for
Veterans Administration Hospitals. He is currently a
Clinical
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at George
Washington
University.
Colonel Field served 32 years in the U.S. Army, and
worked for a decade
in policy positions at the U.S. Department of Justice
and U.S.
Treasury. He is the founder of Tax Analysts, a nonprofit
tax publisher
located in Arlington, Virginia. He holds advanced degrees
in law and
economics from Harvard, Georgetown and Oxford Universities.
Field has
been active as a member of Virginians for Justice and
a director of its
successor organization, Equality Virginia, and is currently
a member of
the adjunct faculty at both Georgetown and American
University law
schools.
Chief Petty Officer Viloria is a retired Navy non-commissioned
officer
who enlisted in 1983. Her tours included a total of
13 years sea duty
onboard three different class of ships. She also served
in Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, where she was the second female in the history
of GITMO to
qualify as an LCU (Landing Craft Utility) Craft Master.
She concluded
her 22-year Navy career in Virginia and is currently
working as a
caregiver while attending school towards a nursing degree.
Roxie Hoven served in the U.S. Navy from 1986 to 1995
as an
Oceanographic Analyst and then as a Navy Instructor.
Her tours
included Naval Facility Brawdy, Wales, Naval Facility
Bermuda and Naval
Oceanographic Processing Facility Whidbey Island, WA.
She later
co-created the Queer Women’s Forum against Domestic
Violence in
Seattle, WA, and began one of the first support groups
in the nation
designed specifically for women abused by their female
partners. She
is currently living in Norfolk and is employed by the
YWCA of South
Hampton Roads.
All four panelists will talk about their experiences
as gay and lesbian
servicemembers and explain how the current “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell”
policy affects the people of Virginia.
For more information, please contact: Jim Maloney,
Executive Director,
Military Equality Alliance, 415-370-3313,
jmaloney@militaryequality.org, or Lara Ballard, Board
Co-Chair, at
202-408-0087.
Military Equality Alliance (MEA)
Website: www.militaryequality.org
E-mail: info@militaryequality.org
Address: P.O. Box 190869, Dallas, TX 75219
Date: July 5, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Jim Maloney, Executive Director
Military Equality Alliance
415-370-3313
jmaloney@militaryequality.org
ANNOUNCING MILITARY EQUALITY ALLIANCE
Military Equality Alliance organizes grassroots efforts
to achieve equality in our armed forces
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - July 5, 2006 - This Fourth
of July Military Equality Alliance "declares its
independence" as a nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization
dedicated exclusively to grassroots lobbying for the
passage of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which
would repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law
and allow patriotic American volunteers to proudly serve
openly in our armed forces regardless of sexual orientation.
Military Equality Alliance (MEA) will focus entirely
on grassroots lobbying in select
Congressional districts and states to inspire constituents
to urge their elected
Representatives to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Operating under section 501(c)(4) of the IRS code governing
nonprofits, MEA will focus all of its resources on grassroots
constituent-based lobbying.
MEA's executive director, Jim Maloney, former director
of the Military Education Initiative (MEI), said, "We
realized that we could contribute in a very significant
way by focusing on gaining the support of the public
in key Congressional districts and states. We look forward
to working with the many other LGBT activist organizations,
many of which have already given us so much assistance
and advice, in helping deliver what we believe will
be the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community's
first national legislative victory."
MEA's grassroots strategy has two key components. First,
it will feature an intense focus on a relatively small
number of key Congressional districts and states, in
order to recruit constituent activists in those areas
who will then spearhead their own constituent-based
grassroots advocacy efforts. Second, it will provide
individualized training to activists who will concentrate
on local organizing. "We welcome the targeted grassroots
efforts of MEA as a complement to our own, and that
of other local, state and national organizations. Lifting
the ban will require all hands on deck. Together, we
can achieve equality for all patriotic service members
in our nation's armed forces," said C. Dixon Osburn
of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN).
"I applaud this effort by MEA to dedicate its
resources directly toward repealing the law against
gay military service," says Rear Admiral Alan M.
Steinman, USCG (Ret). "The grassroots focus is
exactly the right strategy to get rid of Don't Ask,
Don't Tell once and for all." In addition to serving
on the MEA advisory board, Rear Admiral Steinman serves
on the honorary board of SLDN and is lead advisor to
the Call to Duty Tour.
MEA is pleased that its initial fiscal sponsor is Equality
California, which was
instrumental in 2005 in obtaining a resolution from
the California state legislature calling on Congress
to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law and allow patriotic
Americans to serve openly in our armed forces regardless
of sexual orientation.
"With more LGBT veterans in California than any
other state, Equality California is proud to stand with
MEA in the pursuit of equality for the men and women
in our Armed Services," said Geoffrey Kors, Equality
California executive director.
For more information, please contact: Jim Maloney,
Executive Director,
Military Equality Alliance, 415-370-3313, jmaloney@militaryequality.org.
#####
Military Equality Alliance (MEA)
Website: www.militaryequality.org
E-mail: info@militaryequality.org
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