Renée Imperato

Renée Imperato is a proud transgender woman who has lived a life fighting for the rights of others. She enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1967 and volunteered to go to Vietnam four times before finally serving in country. Two months after arriving, Ms. Imperato was in a horrific traffic accident and hospitalized due to her injuries. Rather than accept a medical discharge, she insisted on fighting in the war and served the remainder of her time in Vietnam in combat while working in Military Intelligence.

Ms. Imperato has a rich history as an effective advocate for veteran’s health care, transgender rights, and the Black Lives Matter movement. She has been receiving her health care at the VA since the end of her enlistment. For a short time, she was an employee of the VA where she started learning about veterans’ rights and she quickly started advocating for the care of her fellow veterans. She has also been continually active in the LGBT Veterans Support Group at the Manhattan VA Medical Center. In addition to advocating for these important issues, Renée has also been very involved with advocating for LGBT elders.

Ms. Imperato first arrived at SAGE (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders) in 2016. Not only is she an active participant taking part in the many social programs at SAGE, she also served as Chair of the SAGE Advisory Council. Since that time, she has helped to shift the collective consciousness of the agency creating a more welcoming space for transgender individuals.

She received an honorable discharge with a rating of 100% service-connected disabled for her gallant service in the Air Force. She served during a time when LGBT people had to hide their identity due to existing discriminatory policies of the U.S. Military. She cares deeply for veterans and anyone who has been marginalized. Today, she continues to dedicate her life to the liberation of all LGBTQ people, access to health care and entitlements for veterans, and advocating for the end of racism in the United States. She attributes her passion to protect the rights and dignity of others to her experience serving in Vietnam, an experience that radicalized her views of social justice.