Dinner to honor LGBT Graduates Deemed Too Controversial for Air Force Academy Site

WASHINGTON, DC, September 9, 2010 – The Denver Post reported Thursday morning that a Veterans’ Day dinner to honor the history of LGBT service in the Air Force has been moved off Air Force Academy grounds. Blue Alliance, an organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender alumni of the Air Force Academy, and OutServe, a network of actively serving gay and lesbian military members, were slated to host the dinner at the Association of Graduates (AOG) building to celebrate Veterans’ Day in November. The two organizations were originally notified of the Graduate Organization’s support of an Academy-focused event. But the AOG was unwilling to support the event on the Academy if senior political leaders and media outlets were invited while national leaders are discussing the fate of the country’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.

The Executive Vice President of the AOG was quoted as saying that the event was intended to embarrass the Air Force Academy. Blue Alliance Executive Director, Greg Mooneyham vehemently denies that claim. “We have had a positive relationship with the AOG in the past and this dinner was just a natural extension of a previous event that was held in the AOG building. We had no intent to embarrass the Air Force Academy – in fact, our intent was to recognize the outstanding contributions and accomplishments of a group of Air Force Academy graduates. We regret not being able to honor LGBT service in this way, at the Academy, at this time, but look forward to the day when the contributions of these heroic men and women will be an equal element of the history of the greatest Air Force in the history of the world.”

OutServe’s active duty co-director, who goes by the pseudonym JD Smith, further recognized that “At a time when we’re honoring veterans, we wanted to recognize probably the most ignored veterans in our country: gays and lesbians.” To that end, the two organizations will host the dinner, as planned, at the Westin Hotel in Denver.