website birth_place article_title birth_date known_for residence employer name occupation alma_mater
www.joshseefried.com aurora , colorado , u.s. josh seefried
 february 6 , 1986 lgbt rights activism washington , d.c. united states air force josh seefried active duty air force officer united states air force academy
josh seefried

josh seefried -lrb- born february 6 , 1986 -rrb- is an active duty first lieutenant in the united states air force , an lgbt rights activist , and a former co-chairman on the board of directors of `` outserve-sldn , '' an association of lesbian , gay , bisexual and transgender members of the u.s. military .
a graduate from the u.s. air force academy in 2009 , josh was formerly known by his pseudonym jd smith during his campaign to end the discrimination against lesbians , gays and bisexuals serving openly in the united states military .
using social networking tools such as facebook , seefried organized lgbt active-duty military personnel into an underground association `` outserve '' .
to preclude outing himself as gay while serving on active duty in the air force , a violation of the then - do n't ask , do n't tell policy for which he could have been prosecuted and discharged , he assumed the leadership role and interacted with the media and officials in the pentagon and the white house using only his pseudonym .
he has appeared on cnn , hln , and msnbc in shadow ; additionally , his comments continue to be regularly sought after by the media as a representative of lesbian , gay , and bisexual actively-serving military members .
he was also an invited guest to the presidential signing of the legislation to repeal `` do n't ask , do n't tell . ''
on october 27 , 2012 , the two organizations outserve and sldn merged .
seefried was voted co-chair of the board of directors , making him the youngest at 26 to co-chair any major lgbt organization .
seefried later resigned from the board of directors and left outserve-sldn .
