Julz Carey

Julz Carey, president of American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), knows firsthand the support that LGBTQ military veterans need. By all accounts, her 20-plus years with the Coast Guard were a great success. In 1977, she was one of 24 women selected to service aboard military vessels. She later served as an instructor in maritime training academies, a team leader for Pacific Area Training, and manager of search and rescue cases on Puget Sound. However, the harassment she witnessed of LGBTQ servicemembers kept her in the closet about her own sexuality. “As time went on,” she tells GO, “I realized I might someday have to choose to stand up or become another statistic of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell disaster. I vowed to myself I would stand up.” Now retired, Carey leads AVER, a nonprofit organization that advocates for equal treatment of LGBTQ servicemembers. Founded in 1990, the all-volunteer organization led the fight to repeal DADT and now works to ensure that LGBTQ servicemembers are protected from further discrimination. “The range of issues affecting our LGBT military family is pretty routine,” Carey says, “ranging from housing, medical, and family care concerns. The current climate that excludes trans individuals is not only harmful to the military but is a step backwards for the entire military community.” But as long as the military environment remains exclusive, there will be veterans like Carey willing to fight for change. —RK