April 6, 2018
Army veteran Laila Ireland to discuss being transgender in the military
K-State's Gender Collective, Veteran Center and Military Student Services, Student Governing Association, LGBT Resource Center, and Libraries' Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies will host Laila Ireland on campus on Tuesday, April 10. Ireland will give a presentation about her experiences as a transgender veteran at 6:30pm. in the Alumni Center Tadtman Boardroom. Doors open at 6 p.m.
U.S. Army veteran Ireland is a retired health care management administration specialist and served for 12 years in the 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 Ireland and her then fiancé, Staff Sgt. Logan Ireland, courageously came out as transgender service members by sharing their story in the Emmy-nominated New York Times short film "Transgender, at War and in Love." The American Military Partners Association presented Ireland with their Military Spouse Leadership Award in 2016 and she is the 2017 Military Spouse of the Year on Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. Both Logan and Laila are main characters in the feature length documentary, "TransMilitary," which premiered at South by Southwest 2018 and won the Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary.
Ireland currently speaks in schools and businesses across the U.S. to help establish safe spaces for trans youth and adults, attain accessible healthcare for trans people, and educate staff and students on LGBTQ issues. She serves as the membership director of SPART*A Trans — an organization of more than 500 established and operated for and by trans service members to provide guidance in navigating the new policies and their implementation. Ireland also is a board member for Point of Pride, a nonprofit organization working to benefit trans people all over the world through gender-confirming support programs that empower them to live more authentically.
This event is free and open to the public. Please join us.