30 Days of Pride!

June 17: Elizabeth Shirey

Elizabeth Shirey was raised in Cincinnati, OH and Sacramento, CA, and graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College in 2010, where she double-majored in Political Science and French. During college, Elizabeth interned for Rep. Doris Matsui as part of the Wellesley in Washington program. She also interned on Bolling AFB with the Air Force JAG Corps, working on General Law and Military Justice cases. Both of these experiences affirmed her desire to work on military issues, and to connect them with her participation in GLBT causes, particularly as head of Wellesley’s LGBT political advocacy group.

Her combined interest in LGBT issues and military service led Elizabeth to SLDN. She joined SLDN’s full time staff in June 2010 as a Grassroots and Policy Advocate.  During her tenure with SLDN, Elizabeth connected with advocates and service members throughout the country through the final push to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.  She also conducted extensive research on transgender service with the hope that one day all qualified patriots will be able to pursue their dreams of military service without sacrificing who they are.

Elizabeth departed SLDN in August 2011 to attend UCLA School of Law and begin her journey becoming a JAG attorney.  As a 2L at UCLA, Elizabeth is planning to enter the Air Force’s ROTC program while also directing the school’s Veterans Clinic, and working as an articles editor for the Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs, and the Dukeminier Awards Journal of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law, produced by the Williams Institute. At SLDN, we salute her ongoing commitment to full LGBT military equality, and know her impact will be magnified in the years to come.