{"id":55799,"date":"2017-08-26T18:00:30","date_gmt":"2017-08-26T22:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-transgender-service-members-walking-the-iconic-2017-mtv-vma-red-carpet\/"},"modified":"2017-08-26T18:00:30","modified_gmt":"2017-08-26T22:00:30","slug":"meet-the-transgender-service-members-walking-the-iconic-2017-mtv-vma-red-carpet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-transgender-service-members-walking-the-iconic-2017-mtv-vma-red-carpet\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the transgender service members walking the iconic 2017 MTV VMA red carpet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet the transgender service members walking the iconic 2017 MTV VMA red carpet<\/b><\/p>\n

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Today MTV confirmed that transgender service members will be attending the 2017 VMAs\u00a0tomorrow\u00a0and walking the iconic VMA red carpet.<\/p>\n

GLAAD and SPARTA, a LGBTQ service members and veterans group, will be joining transgender service members Sterling James Crutcher, Logan Ireland, Jennifer Peace, and Akira Wyatt, and trans<\/a> veterans Laila Ireland and Brynn Tannehill\u00a0on the red carpet of the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis will walk with the service members as well as August Getty, an LGBTQ philanthropist and fashion designer.\u00a0The \u201cMTV VMA Pre-Show\u201d will air live<\/a> outside of the \u201cFabulous\u201d Forum in Inglewood, Calif. on Sunday, August 27th at 7:00 p.m. ET\/PT and will be streamed live<\/a> on\u00a0MTV.com<\/a> and on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0 beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET\/PT.<\/p>\n

They will also take over\u00a0@GLAAD\u2019s Instagram<\/a>\u00a0during the red carpet and event.<\/p>\n

MTV\u00a0invited\u00a0these service members\u00a0after\u00a0President\u00a0Trump announced\u00a0his intention to bar transgender people from serving ‘in any capacity’ in the U.S. military.\u00a0Late Friday evening, President Trump\u00a0officially directed<\/a>\u00a0the Pentagon to move forward with this discriminatory policy due to\u00a0take effect<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0March 23, 2018. This runs counter to the support of the\u00a0majority<\/a>\u00a0of Americans in all fifty states who believe transgender people should be allowed to openly serve in the U.S. military.<\/p>\n

“MTV continues to be a pioneer and fierce advocate for the LGBTQ community by giving one of the most visible platforms to voices that need to be heard,\u201d\u00a0said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD<\/strong>.\u00a0\u201cThroughout all the tweets, memos, and speculation, brave transgender Americans are still serving their country and defending the freedoms of this nation while meeting the same rigorous standards of their peers. We are proud to stand with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur transgender service members have fought America\u2019s wars with courage and honor. And they\u2019ve done it with an additional burden, only recently allowed to be authentically themselves,\u201d\u00a0said Sue Fulton, West Point graduate, former Army Captain, past President of SPARTA<\/strong>.\u00a0\u201cThey are valued by their fellow Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and our nation\u2019s military leaders for what they bring to the fight. I\u2019m proud that they are willing to tell their stories publicly, to let America know who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Airman Sterling James Crutcher serves as Munitions technician at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, & deployed to Qatar Air Base in 2017. pic.twitter.com\/RAwsIDqk1y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 GLAAD (@glaad) August 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Air Force Airman First Class Sterling James Crutcher:<\/strong>
Airman Crutcher currently serves as Munitions technician at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. First deployment was in at Qatar Air Base in 2017 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. In Qatar, he built munitions that aided in the war against ISIS.<\/p>\n

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During one of her overseas tours in Japan & Malaysia, US Army Captain Jennifer Peace was rated #1 out of 11 intelligence officers. pic.twitter.com\/uCUmTj220v<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 GLAAD (@glaad) August 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jennifer Peace, a Captain in <\/strong>the US Army:<\/strong>
CPT Peace enlisted in the military in 2005 and completed overseas tours in South Korea and Iraq. She redeployed, commissioned in 2009 as a Military Intelligence officer, and deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 with the 4th Infantry Division. She was the Distinguished Honor Graduate of the Intelligence Career Course in 2013.\u00a0 CPT Peace began transitioning in January of 2014 after a reassignment to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, WA. She served as the primary staff intelligence officer within an Infantry battalion during the Pathway to the Pacific mission which took her to Malaysia and Japan where she was rated #1 out of 11 intelligence officers. She is currently serving as a headquarters company commander. CPT Peace lives in Spanaway, WA, with her wife and three children.<\/p>\n

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Petty Officer Akira Wyatt is a Filipino-American who enlisted in the US Navy in 2011, and provides medical support to the Marine Corps. pic.twitter.com\/STlPpOON4d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 GLAAD (@glaad) August 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Navy Corpsman Petty Officer 3rd Class Akira Wyatt:<\/strong>
Petty Officer Wyatt is currently stationed at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. She is a Filipino-American who, at age 15, migrated to the United States from Cebu, Philippines. HM3 Wyatt enlisted in the United States Navy in May 2011 from Bellevue, Nebraska. Wyatt trained as a \u201cGreenside Corpsman,\u201d providing medical support to United States Marines and was assigned to the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton. She deployed with them to Okinawa, Japan as part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Deployment. Jointly with Philippines-U.S Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) and while onboard USS Bonhomme Richard, HM3 Wyatt participated in shipboard medical and educational training for sailors and marines. Upon completion of her deployment, HM3 Wyatt transferred to the 5th Regiment 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines in October 2013. In November 2015, she reported to the Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton 52 Area Branch Clinic alongside School of Infantry Command West (SOI West). Her primary duties include providing medical and educational needs for Marine Corps instructors\/staff and students during operational field exercises and their families.<\/p>\n

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Former Navy Lt. Commander Brynn Tannehill served as a Naval Aviator and campaign analyst in deployments from 2000-2008. pic.twitter.com\/VJsfmZmBxB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 GLAAD (@glaad) August 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Former Navy Lt. Commander Brynn Tannehill:<\/strong>
LCDR Tannehill graduated from the Naval Academy in 1997. She earned her Naval Aviator wings in 1999 and flew SH-60B helicopters and P-3C maritime patrol aircraft during three deployments between 2000 and 2004. She served as a campaign analyst while deployed overseas to 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain from 2005 to 2006. In 2008 Brynn earned a M.S. in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology and transferred from active duty to the Naval Reserves. In 2008 Brynn began working as a senior defense research scientist in private industry. She left the drilling reserves and began transition in 2010. Since then she has written for numerous outlets as a blogger and featured columnist. She is a board member of the SPARTA and the Trans United Fund. Brynn and her wife Janis currently live<\/a> in Springfield, VA, with their three children.<\/p>\n

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Air Force SSGT Logan Ireland heads the main security command center at Peterson Air Force Base, CO & has deployed to Afghanistan & Qatar. pic.twitter.com\/w8tseIHQBs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 GLAAD (@glaad) August 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Air Force Staff Sergeant Logan B. Ireland:<\/strong>
Staff Sergeant Logan Ireland currently serves as a Security Forces Base Defense Operations Center Controller at an Air Force Base in Colorado. Sergeant Ireland enlisted in the Air Force in 2010 and has been stationed in Missouri, guarding the B-2 stealth bomber and in Oklahoma, providing base security and law enforcement duties. He deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2014 as a lead convoy driver for outside-the-wire counter intelligence missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Throughout his deployment, he was treated as male<\/a> in all respects, meeting or exceeding Air Force standards. In 2014 he was the first service member in the US Armed Forces to have his gender marker legally changed. Since being assigned to his current duty station in Colorado, he has deployed to Qatar, awarded the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer of the Quarter, and is a Combat Leader Course graduate. He is married to former Army Corporal Laila Ireland.<\/p>\n

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Army vet Laila Ireland served 12 years in the United States Army including two combat tours in Iraq. pic.twitter.com\/pBrj7EmBEI<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 GLAAD (@glaad) August 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Retired Army veteran Laila Ireland:<\/strong>Veteran Laila Ireland is a retired Healthcare Management Administration Specialist and served for 12 years in the United States Army. She served two combat tours in Iraq and her final duty station was at Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii where she was honorably discharged and medically retired in November 2015. On June 4, 2015 Laila and her then fianc\u00e9, SSgt Logan Ireland, courageously came out as transgender service members by sharing their story in the Emmy\u00ae-nominated New York Times short film “Transgender, at War and in Love.\u201d The American Military Partners Association presented Laila with their \u201cMilitary Spouse Leadership Award” in 2016 and she is the 2017 Military Spouse of the Year on Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.<\/p>\n

“Our service members continue to step up proudly yet humbly – being visible at a time when their livelihoods are on the line yet again,\u201d\u00a0said Fiona Dawson, Director of TransMilitary<\/strong>. \u201cWe commend their courage for inviting their fellow citizens into their lives to know who they are as people, while at the same time serving our country and protecting our freedom. After five years of documenting their stories, we are inspired by how these Americans touch hearts and change minds.”<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/span>GLAAD also partnered with\u00a0Kesha to launched the\u00a0“They Make Us Stronger<\/a>” t-shirt campaign to raise money to help\u00a0amplify the voices and transgender service members and veterans and give them national platforms, such as the VMAs, to share their stories.<\/p>\n

Again! Make sure to tune into the\u00a02017 VMAs Sunday at 8pm ET and red carpet coverage\u00a0streamed live<\/a> on\u00a0MTV.com<\/a>\u00a0and on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0beginning at 6:00 p.m ET. The service members will take over @GLAAD\u2019s Instagram<\/a> during the red carpet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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August 26, 2017<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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