Out In National Security

15/09/2026

Fifteen years after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” LGBT veterans are speaking openly in the civic spaces where communities decide whom they remember and what they owe.

In Anchorage, a gay veteran appeared before the Assembly with his former commander. In California, trans servicemembers testified before legislators about what abrupt separation could mean for their lives after service.

Those moments point to a larger truth: military service is federal. Homecoming is local.

For LGBT Veterans Day 2026, ONS looks at recognition, public memory, and the obligations communities carry toward those who served.

We Gather Together: On LGBT Veterans Day, 2026

From Anchorage to California, LGBT veterans are speaking openly before the governments and communities they once served in silence. Fifteen years after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” those public acts of recognition are widening the circle of memory and obligation.

07/09/2026

Labor Day is a good time to remember that the people who keep the country secure are workers, too.

For LGBTQIA Americans, the ability to find one another, associate, organize, and seek accountability helped transform careers that once depended on secrecy into institutions better able to draw on their talent.

From Madeleine Tress and Frank Kameny to High Tech G**s, GLIFAA and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s ANGLE, this history points to a larger lesson: the democratic habits of association and collective problem-solving can make national security institutions more capable, resilient, and effective.

Our new Labor Day essay: https://www.outinnationalsecurity.org/2026/09/07/working-to-make-national-security-stronger/

27/08/2026

DoD’s FY25 sexual-assault report shows encouraging progress: unwanted sexual contact declined across the force.

But the public reporting no longer lets us determine whether sexual- and gender-minority servicemembers shared in that improvement, even though prior Pentagon data showed substantially elevated risk among these groups.

Our new analysis looks at what changed, what we still do not know, and what Congress should ask next.

https://www.outinnationalsecurity.org/2026/08/27/dods-sexual-assault-report-leaves-lgbtqia-servicemembers-out-of-view/

04/07/2026

Happy Independence Day.

The American experiment is an idea: that a free people can govern themselves, extend liberty's promise, and build something worthy of the generations to come.

We're still writing that story. We know America belongs to all of us.

30/06/2026

The House Rules Committee took an important step on the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last night. But an important procedural step is not the same as a final legislative outcome.

Several amendments affecting LGBTQ servicemembers, military families, and Department of Defense schools are now positioned for House floor consideration. If enacted, some would move current executive branch policies into federal statute, making them substantially more difficult for future administrations to reverse.

At the same time, it's important to understand where Congress is in the legislative process. The House has additional steps ahead, the Senate is considering its own bill, and any final NDAA must still be negotiated between the two chambers before reaching the President.

Last year's NDAA demonstrates why these distinctions matter. Some House provisions ultimately became law. Others did not survive conference negotiations.

Understanding where legislation stands helps all of us distinguish between proposals under consideration and enacted policy.

We've put together a short legislative brief explaining what happened, what has not happened, and what comes next.

🔗 Read more: https://www.outinnationalsecurity.org/2026/06/30/understanding-the-fy27-ndaa-what-the-house-rules-committee-did-and-what-comes-next/