Secretary Gober expressed the Administration's commitment to equal access and treatment for all qualified veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs, regardless of sexual orientation. During this same Washington lobbying visit, GLBVA officers presented U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) with a certificate of honorary life membership, the first ever granted by unanimous vote of the Board of Directors. By 1996, James Darby, a Chicago native who organized the Chicago chapter of GLBVA, became President of the organization, and was received in 1997 by White House Senior Adviser for Public Liaison Richard Socarides and by Pentagon officials. Under Darby's leadership, the "Lexington Declaration" called on U.S. President Bill Clinton to lift the ban on open service in the military by homosexuals. In 2001, the first American memorial specifically honoring LGBTQ veterans was dedicated in Desert Memorial Park, called the LGBTQ Veterans Memorial. In 2018, a bill was signed into law designating that LGBTQ Veterans Memorial as California's official LGBTQ veterans memorial. Due to this, California became the first state in the nation to officially recognize LGBTQ military veterans. That memorial is an obelisk of South Dakotan mahogany granite with the logo of the GLBVA, now called American Veterans for Equal Rights, on it. On May 2, 2005, the GLBVA, under president Jim Donovan, changed its name to the American Veterans for Equal Rights. The organization was formally incorporated as a 501(c)(19) organization under president Alan J. Rogue (died 2010). Danny Ingram, a Georgia native and former sergeant of the U.S. Army who was discharged immediately after DADT came into force, succeeded Rogue as president; he represented AVER at the 2010 signature ceremony at which the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 was signed into law. Ingram was succeeded in 2013 by Lieutenant Colonel Steve Loomis (U.S. Army, Ret.), who is the incumbent president. In 2007, the Chicago Chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. Organization The organization is chapter-based, and local chapters organize many of their own activities. For example, the Chicago chapter organized a ceremony to mark the end of "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT). With the city of Chicago, AVER sponsors an annual tribute to gay and lesbian veterans. References External links Official web site American Veterans for Equal Rights, National Capital Chapter: A Community Profile, MetroWeekly, February 17, 2005 LGBT people and military service in