Calpernia Addams

Addams grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. She served as a Hospital Corpsman with the Navy and United States Marine Corps. During her last year in the military, she came out as a transgender woman. Addams chose the name "Calpernia" from the William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar (a variant spelling of Caesar's wife Calpurnia) and its appearance on a tombstone in the film The Addams Family.

In 1999, while working as a performer, Addams began dating PFC Barry Winchell. Word of the relationship spread at Winchell's Army base where he was harassed by fellow soldiers and ultimately murdered.  Winchell's murder and the subsequent trial resulted in widespread press and a formal review of the U.S. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) military policy, ordered by President Bill Clinton.

The case became a prominent example used to illustrate the failure of DADT to protect LGBT service members.  Addams' and Winchell's romance and the crimes of their abusers are depicted in the film Soldier's Girl, released in 2003. Addams was portrayed by Lee Pace.  A subsequent New York Times article, "An Inconvenient Woman", documented the marginalization and misrepresentation of transgender sexuality even by gay rights activists.

Christopher T. Landavazo

Mr. Landavazo is a 15 year veteran of law enforcement and 9 year member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He founded Cops 4 Causes, a charitable law enforcement non-profit organization and currently serves as the President. 

He completed an Executive Master of Leadership at the University of Southern California and holds a certificate in public management from the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development. Additionally, Mr. Landavazo has served as an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Phoenix, Southern California Campus. He is currently a Doctoral Candidate at Brandman University. 

Prior to becoming a law enforcement officer, Mr. Landavazo served 8 years in the United States Navy as an Air Traffic Controller, achieving the rank of Petty Officer 1st Class. He played an active role in advocating for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) and with its passage, he is currently in the process of gaining a commissioning. He is a proud member of American Legion Post 43 and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

Mr. Landavazo tirelessly advocates for veterans, equality, health care, civil rights and seniors and works with dozens of organizations.

Lt. Col. Victor J. Fehrenbach

Lt Col Victor J. Fehrenbach is a 20-year combat veteran of the United States Air Force. His final assignment was as F-15E Weapons Systems Officer and Assistant Director of Operations, 366th Operations Support Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. In 20 years, Lt Col Fehrenbach deployed six times in support of seven major combat operations, including SOUTHERN WATCH (twice) — Iraq, ALLIED FORCE & JOINT GUARDIAN — Kosovo & Former Yugoslavia, INFINITE JUSTICE & NOBLE EAGLE — United States, ENDURING FREEDOM (twice) & ANACONDA — Afghanistan, and IRAQI FREEDOM — Iraq. He accrued 2180 total flying hours, 1487 fighter hours, 500 instructor hours, 400 combat hours, and 88 combat missions.

After being “outted” by a third party in May 2008, he engaged in a 3-year personal and public battle against the military’s “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” policy. In April 2009, a military discharge board recommended an honorable discharge under DADT. One month later, he decided to take his fight public and tell his story on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.” He has appeared in numerous interviews, notably ”The Rachel Maddow Show“ (15 times), CNN (6 times), MSNBC (4 times), BBC (4 times), NBC Nightly News, CBS Morning News, PBS NewsHour, FoxNews, and an HBO documentary. He has also been featured in hundreds of newspapers, magazines, and publications, including Associated Press (covered in over 200 newspapers), New York Times, Washington Post, Dayton Daily News, and the cover of Instinct magazine’s “Leading Men” issue (November 2009). He also took on the political fight, personally lobbying President Obama and scores of high-ranking members of the House and Senate for the repeal of DADT.