Military Partners and Families Coalition (MPFC) is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 2011 by a group of partners of active duty U.S. Armed Forces Service-members stationed in the U.S. and overseas.
MPFC was launched publicly on Memorial Day, May 31, 2011.
Our History
The MPFC co-founders were strangers to each other before meeting at the Pentagon.
As the Department of Defense gathered information to consider repeal, we were
given the opportunity to speak with DoD General Counsel Jeh Johnson and the
Pentagon Comprehensive Review Working Group to share our stories. It was a bold and
empowering experience, for both us and our Pentagon hosts.
There weren’t many of us. And it is a wonder that the Pentagon was able to find
us at all, because frankly, under Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell, we could not even find each
other. We lived isolated lives, unknown to our LGBT communities because we were
military families, and unknown to the military community because we were LGBT
families.
Following our meeting at the Pentagon we saw the gaping void between our silent
military reality and our ability to provide support to one another. A small group
of active duty silent military partners started exchanging ideas between Skype and
our own kitchen tables and formed MPFC in 2011 to begin filling that void, and to create a
safe space to support one another and call attention to the silent partners and their
families who stand by their service members.
Our Mission
The Military Partners and Families Coalition (MPFC) provides support, resources,
education and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender military partners
and their families.
We do this by providing online resources, education and training to those who support the military community, outreach and support through safe space virtual hang-outs and community events, and by connecting with other military support organizations and agencies that share the civic responsibility to support all military families.
