Eric Alva: The End of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Retired Staff Sergeant Eric Alva was one of the first troops to be deployed for the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. He was also the first American wounded in the war. Stepping on a landmine just hours after the ground war had begun: Alva became the war's first Purple Heart recipient.

Click here to visit the Facebook event!

After serving in the military for 13 years, Alva retired as a Staff Sergeant and returned to college. It was there that he took the momentous step of coming out as a gay man who had served and proudly sacrificed for his country. Currently serving as the national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's effort to repeal the military's discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Alva's goal is to help achieve civil rights for all American citizens. Alva's fight for the rights of LGBT Americans, and in particular, for those who have served and are serving in the military but are unable to be true to themselves, is a story of true courage.