by Shaun Knittel - SGN Associate Editor

This week, OutServe announced its first OutServe Capital Summit, to be held May 14-15 in Washington, D.C. According to officials, the two-day event will be co-sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), Courage Campaign, and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), and will focus on the theme 'Our Families Matter.'

The summit will gather actively serving military of all sexual orientations with experts from resource and advocacy groups to discuss the legal rights of Gay and Lesbian military partners, as well as resources for their support.

Spouses and partners of Gay and Lesbian servicemembers are not currently provided all available resources to support their families during and after deployments, nor are they given access to base facilities or many educational, counseling, healthcare, and other privileges. For example, a Gay or Lesbian spouse cannot pick up a child from military day care, or purchase groceries for the family at the commissary.

'Our goal with this summit is to bring together the military community to address the issues that affect LGBT military families and how to solve them,' said Josh Seefried, co-director of OutServe. 'We need to educate decision-makers, as private citizens, how our families are affected - and send a clear message that our families matter.'

The summit will also include visits to elected and/or appointed officials to educate them on the challenges facing Gay and Lesbian military families.

To register, visit outserve.org/capital-summit.

OutServe is the association of actively serving LGBT military personnel. With more than 4,700 members and 42 chapters worldwide, it is one of the largest LGBT employee resource groups in the world. OutServe works to support a professional network of LGBT military personnel and create an environment of respect in the military with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity.

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