Tracey Hepner, co-founder of the Military Partners and Families Coalition, a support group for LGBT military partners and their families, has been selected to sit with first lady Michelle Obama during the State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Hepner works for the Department of Homeland Security as a master behavior detection officer, and is married U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Tammy Smith, the first openly gay general in the U.S. military.
Hepner, 50, told the Washington Post that she did not know of any specific reason why she was chosen to attend, other than having founded the military partners organization and being married to “the highest-ranking out military officer.”