Non-Discrimination Statement

PRIDE Veterinary Medical Community (formerly known as the LGVMA) is the oldest professional organization that strives to promote acceptance, inclusivity, and leadership of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary medical students, of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender presentations. We seek to do so through community development, professional advocacy, and individual empowerment.

PRIDE VMC confronts and rejects all forms of prejudice, discrimination, and bias whether it be implicit or outright. Such forms include, but are not limited to, those based on race, ethnicity, country of origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender presentation, size, age, parental status, religion, political beliefs, geographic, socioeconomic, and educational background.

PrideVMC’s Mission & Vision

The PRIDE Veterinary Medical Community (formerly known as LGVMA) strives to foster acceptance & inclusivity for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and gender presentations within the veterinary medical profession. Our vision is a veterinary profession in which we all live to our full potential, have the ability to conduct our lives openly and with integrity, and are free to share our experience and wisdom for the betterment of ourselves, our profession, our clients and all animals

Our goals are as follows:

• Fight discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in the veterinary medical profession.
• Build collaborative networks for the LGBTQ+ veterinary medical community.
• Support LGBTQ+ students in veterinary medicine through mentorship, program development, and scholarships.

PrideVMC strives to foster acceptance & inclusivity for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and gender presentations within the veterinary medical profession.

History

In the year 1977, eight years following the world-renowned Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, New York several gay veterinarians met at a dinner party during the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) convention in Atlanta.

And they wondered how many other veterinarians, like themselves, were out there?

To discover the answer, Drs. Jeffery Collins and Herman Westmoreland courageously placed an ad in The Advocate, the national gay magazine, announcing the first gathering of the Association for Gay Veterinarians (AG Vets) to be held in Las Vegas during the 1978 AVMA convention.

PRIDE VMC has a long and storied 40+ years of history. It grew out of the gay liberation events following Stonewall in 1977.