Austin, TX (September 20, 2010) – Equality Texas announces the election of Col. Terrel S. Preston (USAF, Ret.) to its board of directors.  Col. Preston joins Paul Boskind, San Antonio; Whitney Kelly, Amarillo; Denise Mejia, San Antonio; Saul Reyes, Amarillo; Jeanne Rubin, Frisco; Rob Scamardo, Houston; Katy Stewart, Bryan; Lisa Thomas, Fort Worth; Brian Thompson, Austin; Paul Tran, Dallas; Ronnie Whitman, Willis; and Anne Wynne, Austin.

Colonel Terrel S. Preston served on active duty in the United States Air Force for twenty-six years as a pilot, operations analyst, staff officer and unit commander.  A Distinguished Graduate of Air Force ROTC at Florida State University, Col. Preston held a variety of positions in flying operations, scientific research, squadron command, and staff functions at all levels in the Air Force.

During his career, Col. Preston earned two Top Gun awards in fighter training, served on two aircraft acquisition test teams, piloted thirty sensitive missions over Central America under hostile fire, commanded three squadrons including a deployed unit in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm, enjoyed three Pentagon assignments and attended three professional military courses in residence, including the year-long Royal College of Defense Studies in London with senior officers from forty countries.

Since retiring from active duty in 2004, Col. Preston has been an Equality Texas Capitol Club member, has led community events for San Antonio and Houston chapters of the Human Rights Campaign, and has served as a military advisor for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Statement by Col. Terrel Preston (USAF, Ret.):

“Equality Texas is such an important organization.  Equality Texas is the only organization with a full-time lobbying presence at the Texas Capitol in support of equal treatment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Texans.  I am excited to be a member of the Equality Texas board of directors and I hope to help grow the organization’s membership across the great state of Texas by communicating to Texans a message of fairness and equal treatment.”

Equality Texas History: As a non-partisan organization with more than two decades of rich history, Equality Texas has established itself as a policy and advocacy authority at the Texas Capitol and across the state. Equality Texas has achieved bipartisan support while accomplishing a strong legislative agenda. The organization successfully works for inclusive policies at the local and state levels. Equality Texas is comprised of a professional staff and leadership volunteers governed by a board of directors committed to working across the state in partnership with members, allies and like-minded organizations.