Rob Smith

Rob Smith is an Iraq war veteran, journalist, author, political analyst, and LGBT Activist. He served as an infantryman in the United States Army for five years, earning the Army Commendation Medal and Combat Infantry Badge.

In November 2010, he was arrested with 12 other LGBT military veterans and civilian activists at the front gates of the White House while protesting the U.S. Military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) law, which barred open military service by gays and lesbians. In December of that same year, he was an invited guest of President Barack Obama at the ceremony that saw the repeal of the discriminatory law to be signed and put into effect.

In August of 2012, Smith made his literary debut in the anthology book “For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Was Still Not Enough: Coming of Age, Coming Out, and Coming Home," which won the 2012 American Library Association Stonewall Book Award for Nonfiction and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. He is the author of "Always a Soldier: Service, Sacrifice, and Coming Out as America's Favorite Black, Gay Republican."

After graduating with honors from Syracuse University, Smith became a noted journalist, publishing work at Salon.com, USA Today, CNN.com, and The Huffington Post, among many others. Smith regularly contributes to The Advocate, Turning Point USA, Huffington Post, Gay Voices, and Queerty.com.

As a political commentator, he has been seen on Fox News, NBC News, CNN, HLN, and more. He has spoken about politics and current events at Yale University, Google, Deutsche Bank, Vanderbilt University, and dozens of other colleges, universities, and companies across America.