Joining the American Legion

Ok, current mission: join the Alexander Hamilton Chapter of the American Legion (post 448).

Obviously, I am not a Veteran. So, amended mission: join the Auxiliary. But it is not clear that I actually have any ancestors who served in the US armed forces. Close relatives, yes. Direct ancestors, research pending. Russian armed forces in the 19th century, most certainly. US Armed Forces in the 20th? As I said, research pending.

So, you might be asking, why the American Legion? I'm glad you asked! The reasons are manifold:

• The Alexander Hamilton post is for GLBT vets. They are the only GLBT vet chapter of the American Legion in the nation. They are named after Alexander Hamilton because of the Hamilton/Laurens letters. Based upon that evidence alone, I can only conclude that they are made of win.


• There is a free rehearsal space for my chorus to sweeten the deal. They asked that some of our members join so that they could be our official sponsors like they are currently the sponsors of the Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band. They are particularly interested in having more women members because they have very few (:cough: just like every other LGBT organization in the universe :cough:).


• Cool group, cool way to support the armed forces, cool opportunity to get involved in service work in general (For instance, the American Legion Auxiliary runs Girls State).


• Man, those hats are so sweet, I can totally use them to impress the ladies. "Hey baby," I will say. "Have you seen my sweet Scotty cap? We can totally go on a date to the War Memorial Opera House. Not to see an opera, just to hang out in the SECRET AMERICAN LEGION CLUB on the first floor." Ok, maybe not. But I bet my grandmother would love to see the secret clubhouse.


• Check out the flash into on their page. It has an eagle with a flag across its face AND text in an animated rainbow. SMITTEN.


• Instant points and credibility when people accuse me of being anti-American on the basis of my political beliefs. (Less of an issue under the current President than it was under the last one.

So, as soon as I resolve the challenge of no military ancestors, I'm pretty much good to go. But since it was ambiguous for so long who Grandma Margaret's father even was, maybe I do! (Fear not, we now know via DNA evidence.)

And if all else fails, they have the Alexander Hamilton Association for people who just want to support them.