Jacob Thomas (he/him)

Jacob Thomas, an Air Force and AF Reserve veteran, served as a network engineer and sexual assault survivor advocate over eight years of service (2008-2016). Jacob served under the discriminatory policy known as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and continued to serve after its repeal, later coming out himself in 2012. He brings over a decade of organizing and communications strategy experience with a focus on intersectional Queer and Trans movement work to Common Defense.

Throughout his service he advocated for the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) service members creating Grand Forks AFB’s first LGBTQ+ history booth during the annual Multicultural Fair and cofounding an organization that passed citywide LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination ordinances in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Believing “the personal is political” he has engaged in direct actions and community organizing with Organizing For Action, Can’t Convert Love, Black Lives Matter, Common Defense, and others.

Jacob designed a bachelors degree at the University of Minnesota titled, “Theatre for Social Justice and the Politics of Creating Change,” to examine how art, theatre, and performance affect social movements and move our society forward. As a theatre artist and activist, Jacob traveled across seven states in the Deep South discussing LGBTQ+ rights surrounding the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage and documented the conversations and observations through video and blogging. He has created and collaborated on multiple short plays and performances. He also created a multi-media art exhibit in 2019 examining the LGBTQ+ veteran experience and imperial power & oppression through the Military Industrial Complex and America’s foreign “Forever War.” His own coming out story as a gay kid who grew up in Georgia has been viewed online more than 187,000 times, helping people across the world know they are worthy and loved.

For more than 5 years he ran communications strategy and implementation for OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. A graduate of the 2018 VOI Cohort, Jacob has used his veteran experience to volunteer, organize, and consult with Common Defense for the past 5 years before officially joining staff as the Communications Director in 2022. He continues to consult and contract with multiple community and national organizations advancing civil and human rights.