Stephen Eagle Funk

In 2003-2004, Stephen Funk became the first member of the U.S. Military to be court-martialed for refusing to deploy to the U.S. War in Iraq. As the conscientious objector approached his trial, conviction and eventual five-month incarceration, Funk also came out publicly as gay.

His high-profile case brought Funk to the then-nascent organization Iraq Veterans Against the War (later re-named About Face), and Funk soon found himself immersed in a welter of anti-war activities.  As a young man who had grown up feeling “I wasn’t able to speak,” who in the military had kept a low profile to avoid racist and homophobic abuse, Funk rapidly emerged as an outspoken voice for peace and justice. 

In San Francisco, Funk united anti-war veterans with local drag performers to stage “Make Drag, Not War,” a production that had a successful run for several years.  Funk still “deploys” for actions with his About Face chapter in San Antonio and Austin—for instance, joining veterans to protest then-President Donald Trump’s ill-fated campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma during a surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.  Funk is pleased to witness the recent ascent of women and men of color and queer people into positions of leadership in About Face, which he hopes will remain a flexible vehicle for his cohort of Post 9/11 veterans, to “propel them forward.”