Earlier this month, our Modern Military Instagram account was hacked. Years of posts, memories, and community-building efforts were erased overnight. While our team was devastated by this attack, we remain resolute in our mission.

We don’t know specifically who targeted us or why, but we won’t be silenced. Our commitment to fighting for LGBTQ+ equality within the military-affiliated community is unwavering. 

This attack is just one example of the rising tide of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and actions sweeping across our nation. Organizations like ours, and the individuals we support, are increasingly targeted by hackers, shadowbanned (when social media companies deliberately reduce visibility of posts or accounts) on social media, and subjected to relentless online harassment. A GLAAD report found social media companies fail to properly recognize and remove online discrimination and harassment toward LGBTQ+ people. 

Despite these challenges, we’re determined to continue our work. While we’re working hard to regain access to the @lgbtq_military account, there’s a strong likelihood that the account is gone forever. We’ve launched a new Instagram account at www.instagram.com/lgbtq.military, where we’ll rebuild our community and amplify the voices that need to be heard. But we can’t do it alone.

We need your help to recover from this attack and continue our fight. Your donation will help us:

  • Restore and rebuild our online presence
  • Strengthen our cybersecurity to protect against future attacks
  • Continue advocating for LGBTQ+ rights within the military community

Every contribution, no matter the size, makes a difference. Together, we can ensure that Modern Military remains a beacon of support and advocacy, standing strong against those who seek to silence us. You can make a one-time or recurring donation on Modern Military’s website.

Progress is often two steps forward and one step back. Historically, every advance in equality and inclusion caused some to feel threatened, prompting them to push the pendulum back in the other direction. Today, as we face aggressive pushback, it can be painful and unsettling to see some of the LGBTQ+ community’s hard-won progress erode. 

We see it in the threats of violence that cancel drag shows and story times, in the fear that now surrounds Pride events, in families fleeing states where gender-affirming care is no longer accessible, and in the dangerous rhetoric and misinformation found in documents like Project 2025.

One only needs to look at the recent Paris Summer Olympics as a bellwether of the current climate. Despite the drama over a dirty river and a last-minute gymnastics medal swap, the controversies featuring the LGBTQ+ community eclipsed all others. 

There was an outcry over drag performers in the opening ceremony, with some viewers falsely believing it mocked Christianity and The Last Supper. These performers now face severe online abuse.

Then there was intense criticism over transgender athletes. Ironically, the athletes in question — two female boxers — aren’t actually transgender. Many viewers became convinced that Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, and one of her competitors, Lin Yu-ting, were transgender and shouldn’t be allowed to compete. Even as the athletes and sporting authorities reiterated they were assigned female at birth, rhetoric escalated and transphobic celebrities piled on. 

The harassment became so extreme that after the Olympics, Khelif filed a lawsuit against several celebrities who promoted transphobic lies about her, including J.K. Rowling, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump. Khelif didn’t sue because being called a transgender person is bad, but because of how poorly the world still treats the trans community. These false accusations could end her career and jeopardize her safety. 

We understand the anxiety, fear, and frustration that so many in our community are feeling right now. It was a blow to find that someone was so opposed to Modern Military’s work that they felt compelled to hack and destroy our longtime Instagram account. But if someone is willing to do that, it must mean they feel threatened by the equality-promoting work we do and by our visibility. We’ll take that as a sign that we are doing something right.

We will keep on doing the work, but we need your help too. Please consider:

Thank you for standing with us.