Today, the American Military Partner Association (AMPA) announced that industry giants and military family champions Comcast NBCUniversal and USAA will be joint presenting sponsors of the 5th Annual AMPA National Gala — the nation’s largest LGBT military event of the year — held on Saturday, May 12, 2018, at the Washington Hilton. Attended by hundreds of LGBT service members, military spouses, veterans, and allies from across the country and around the world, the event honors modern military families for their service and sacrifice to our nation.

“Ask anyone who has been, and they’ll tell you the AMPA National Gala is an inspiring evening like no other. It’s a truly unique celebration of LGBT military families — a community that for decades was forced to live in the shadows, struggling to get by on their own,” said AMPA President Ashley Broadway-Mack, the proud wife of a U.S. Army officer. “This year’s event is going to be even bigger and better than ever before, and we’re so excited to welcome the LGBT military and allied community together. We’re especially grateful to have Comcast NBCUniversal and USAA again this year as our presenting sponsors. The evening simply wouldn’t be possible without these incredible companies and their commitment to supporting our modern military families.”

“It’s hard to believe this is the fifth year we are bringing together the LGBT military community from across the country for this incredible event,” said Stephen Peters, AMPA President Emeritus, Marine Corps veteran, and proud husband of a U.S. Marine. “Many of these military families are stationed in places that aren’t as welcoming and inclusive of the LGBT community as others — which is often why you’ll see tears in the eyes of so many throughout the evening as they are embraced and celebrated for their service to our country. The AMPA National Gala is an event not to be missed by anyone who is committed to supporting the LGBT military family community.”

The 5th Annual AMPA National Gala is an inspiring, empowering, and often emotional celebration of the incredible progress made for LGBT service members, veterans, and their families — many of whom for years were forced to serve in silence while hiding their families because of discriminatory laws and policies. With the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the recent end to outdated transgender policies, LGBT troops now serve our nation openly with pride. While President Trump has tried to reinstate a discriminatory transgender military ban, courts have so far blocked it from being implemented. AMPA is an organizational plaintiff in one of the lawsuits challenging the ban — Karnoski v. Trump, brought by Lambda Legal and OutServe-SLDN on behalf of nine individuals, AMPA, the Human Rights Campaign, and Gender Justice League.

Past speakers, honorees, and special guests at the annual event have included former Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy Rosemary Williams, marriage equality heroes Eddie Windsor and Jim Obergefell, officials from the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, LGBT military community heroes, and many more.

While the event is expected to sell out early, AMPA continues to keep ticket prices for the event affordable in order to ensure a broad spectrum of the community is able to attend. Early bird tickets are only $99 until March 15 and $149 after March 15. Tickets to the 5th Annual AMPA National Gala are available at www.MilitaryPartners.org/Gala. Businesses, organizations, and individuals interested in sponsorship packages may contact the organization at partners@militarypartners.org for more information.