Veteran Activist
As the new head of OutServe-SLDN, Allyson Robinson is opening new fronts in the fight for full equality in the military
Interview by Justin Snow
Published on November 29, 2012, 3:23am
http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=7931Allyson Robinson has never been one to take the easy route. She applied three times before being accepted to West Point. And when she came out as transgender, it wasn't in the confines of a liberal bastion like New York or San Francisco, but in Waco, Texas. While she was in divinity school.
As the new executive director of the recently combined OutServe-Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Robinson faces an uphill battle of refocusing the movement on the inequalities still faced by LGBT servicemembers.
The repeal of ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' in September 2011 brought an end to nearly two decades of discrimination in the American armed forces that saw more than 13,000 men and women discharged because of their sexual orientation. But while activists and supporters of the LGBT community declared victory after the repeal, obstacles remain for full equality in the military, including a ban on transgender servicemembers and roadblocks for awarding same-sex couples benefits enjoyed by straight military couples.
A veteran, Baptist preacher and married for 18 years to the mother of her four children, the 42-year-old Robinson hopes to right those wrongs by preaching to the LGBT community and the public the struggles that still remain for those in uniform. Having previously worked for the Human Rights Campaign as deputy director of employee programs at HRC's Workplace Project, Robinson brings a knack for educating to her new leadership role.
