Lee Reinhart has succeeded Jim Darby, founder and longtime president of the Chicago chapter of the American Veterans for Equal Rights (the GLBT veterans group).
During his early military career, Reinhart had served honorably in the Navy only to be discharged from the Coast Guard under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He became one of the first Illinois veterans discharged under the policy to reenlist after it was repealed, reenlisting in the Navy in Chicago on Oct. 24, 2011. On March 13, 2014, he returned from a one-year tour in Afghanistan.
While there, he spearheaded the first ever gay-pride event on Kandahar Air Force Base.
Darby is a former national secretary of the American Veterans for Equal Rights and founded the Chicago chapter in 1991. He is a Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame member and secretary for the Mayor’s Advisory Council for Veteran’s Affairs.
Other officers are vice president/treasurer, Larry Simpson; vice president/secretary, James Darby; senior board member, Tara Buckley; and junior board members, Patrick Bova and Stanley Jenczyk.
Text by Jean Albright