WASHINGTON -- Allyson Robinson, a transgender veteran, has been named executive director of OutServe-SLDN, a gay-rights group supporting LGBT troops.

Robinson is a 1994 graduate of West Point and commanded Patriot missile units in Germany and Saudi Arabia during five years of military service the 1990s.

SAN DIEGO – October is a special month for the LGBT community, with a number of observances that include LGBT History Month, Spirit Day, the anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death, and National Coming Out Day (NCOD), which is being celebrated today locally and across the nation.

From local college campuses to a Google Hangout created for NCOD, LGBT people across the nation will encourage others to come out, be themselves, and raise greater awareness of the challenges that the community faces.

WASHINGTON – “It looks like 2012 will be the year of marriage equality.”

So says Fred Sainz, former spokesman for San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, who is now vice president of communications and marketing for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

The HRC conducted a teleconference on Wednesday afternoon to discuss that status of marriage equality and other LGBT issues on court dockets and ballots in November. Sainz led an upbeat media briefing featuring Brian Moulton, HRC legal director, and Sarah Warbelow, HRC state legislative director.

WASHINGTON – Missouri GOP Congressman and Senate hopeful Todd Akin, who this weekend claimed that “legitimate rape” rarely led to pregnancy when discussing a woman’s right to choose, has an equally abysmal track record on issues of LGBT equality.

The Human Rights Campaign is joining with PROMO, Missouri’s statewide LGBT advocacy organization, in condemning Akin’s remarks and his anti-LGBT history.