30 Days of Pride!

June 6: CDR Zoe Dunning

CDR Zoe Dunning has been a champion for military equality for more than two decades and is now taking her advocacy to the policy-making arena. Just yesterday, she won the Democratic Primary - her first campaign for public office - to become Democratic County Central Committeewoman in the City of San Francisco.

CDR Dunning graduated from the United States Naval Academy in one of the first classes to include women. After completing six years of active duty service, she transitioned into the Navy Reserves so she could attend Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. In January of 1993, while still a student at Stanford, she courageously and publicly came out as a lesbian in protest of the ban on gay service in the U.S. military. One of the first military members to be prosecuted under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) law, CDR Dunning bravely fought her discharge and won. She continued to serve as an only openly gay member of the U.S. military for the next 13 years.

Not satisfied with protecting just her military career, she continued her advocacy through her Board leadership at SLDN. She retired as a U.S. Navy Commander after 22 years of service to our country, and President Barack Obama honored her successful 18-year battle by having her to stand next to him when he signed the historic "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" Repeal Act of 2010.