Greetings, 

Thank you for your interest in Protect and Defend. Whether you are already a member, a potential member, potential agency or local community member, I encourage you to further explore our website and learn more about Protect and Defend. 

I hope that you will find information and pictures that will inform you of the progress that we have made in the past year.  Protect and Defend was originally established to provide a safe and secure venue for LGBT first responders and military members to meet and socialize with peers both nationally and internationally. These safe venues allowed us to make friends and professional connections in a climate that was not available to most of us in our home states and occupations.

Protect and Defend is a recognized non-profit organization, and relies on the dues you pay for insurance, organizational expenses and benefits. In the past, your dues have paid for donations made to wounded officers and their families during tragic events.  No dues money is every allotted to board members for personal use, travel or meals. All board members conduct board business at their own expense.

With the increase of social media, we are now able to meet and communicate with LGBT peers 24 hours a day, virtual friendships are made and friends of friends are being introduced daily.  Many social media pages allow for our LGBT community to socialize, plan trips, support peers and provide entertainment while recounting stores of every- day situations. 

Like most organizations in this digital age, Protect and Defend continuously re-evaluates its role and strives to be relevant in the service it provides to our members and allies.  We have established partnerships with other first responder support groups and we continue to seek out alliances with community-based organizations.  

Protect and Defend still hosts several special events throughout the year and different parts of the country to allow its members and friends to gather and fellowship. We also evaluate what works for us and what doesn’t and we are constantly changing to keep up with the needs of our members.

Your Board of Directors is always available to discuss ways to make this organization better. As we are a completely voluntary board and spread across the time zones, your questions and comments may not always be addressed in a timely manner.  I want to assure you that all questions, comments and complaints are reviewed and taken into consideration.

To our valued members, we thank you for your membership and continued support of this organization and hope that you will all recruit others to join.

Thank you again for visiting our website. We look forward to seeing you in person at a PAD event in the near future. 

President
Protect and Defend