Gays in the Military: Voices From the Ranks
By The Editors
(Photo: Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images) In response to our discussion about whether President Barack Obama should rescind the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the military, readers — including current and retired members of the armed forces — responded with their views or personal stories. Here are excerpts of what they had to say.
The Price I Paid, 43 Years Ago
Forty-three years ago, I was discharged under honorable conditions from the United States Marine Corps. The euphemism, “Fraudulent Enlistment,” was used — in that I failed to identify myself as homosexual before enlistment.
I didn’t realize until some months later that my DD214 (military discharge papers) revealed in code numbers that I was gay. But I soon learned the secret after Boeing said they could not hire me because I was a security risk. Even the United States Postal Service rejected my application — I was not moral enough to deliver the mail.
In 1966, government agencies could fall back on the fact that homosexual behavior was a statutory crime in all states except Illinois. By the late 1970’s, most states except in the South had repealed these laws.
It’s time for the American military to catch up with our society. Repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Those of us who have been discharged for homosexuality have paid dearly.
— Scott Kilborn
It’s About Teamwork and Trust
I am a Petty Officer in the Navy Seals, and personally I believe in the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Though I have yet to see much combat time (but I have seen it), when we were going through B.U.D.S. training, our whole unit came together. We slept together, trained together, had chow together, showered together. We did everything as a team and were an inseparable unit. We had to build a large amount of trust with each other, because our lives depended on it.
In order to survive, not only during training, but in the real world, we had to trust one another totally, without a moment’s pause, and if we didn’t someone could get killed.
Don’t get me wrong, in no way do I look at myself as being perfect, and I am not homophobic in any way. But I don’t believe that openly gay men and women have any place in the U.S. military.
If women are still not allowed to serve in certain groups of the military, like the Army Frontal Infantry, how can we expect to allow openly gay men into those groups? Or are we simply going to ban gay men from it?
If so, then I ask you, what’s next?
— Petty Officer SR
‘Out’ in the Navy for 14 Years
I am a retired Navy Commander and lesbian. I publicly “came out” in January 1993 as a political statement in support of then President-elect Bill Clinton’s campaign pledge to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly and honestly in the military. I was one of the first cases under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) and one of the very few exceptions who unanimously won my DADT discharge hearing (using a defense strategy subsequently deemed illegal by the Pentagon). This enabled me to serve the final 14 years of my military career as an open lesbian.
The units in which I served those 14 years did not suffer impaired cohesion or morale due to my mere presence. If anything, my honesty enabled closer relationships with my shipmates because I no longer needed to distance myself from them due to fear of discovery and potential loss of my career. I continued to serve, sleep, shower and perform alongside my fellow unit members without incident because I was a professional officer and conducted myself as such. Being “out” did not change that.
My open service did not unduly expose the unit to an increase in sexual harassment complaints or issues. If anything, it decreased it. In my 26 years in uniform, the only sexual assault or harassment I witnessed were cases of male on female misconduct, many of which went unreported for fear the man would turn the woman in as a suspected lesbian in retaliation (not an unfounded fear, as this happened frequently). I personally was the victim of many inappropriate verbal and physical advances from men, especially as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy in the early 1980s, and knew I was powerless to report them for fear of retribution and investigation of me, not the man.
These anecdotal experiences are supported by a Palm Center study of the Canadian military, which found the percentage of military women who experienced sexual harassment dropped 46% after the ban was lifted. One factor in the decline was that women were now free to report assaults without fear that they would be accused of being a lesbian.
I think this debate needs to shift from if the law should be repealed to how repeal should best be implemented.
— Zoe Dunning
I Won’t Come Out
I am currently a member of the United States Air Force and I am gay. While I support the repeal of DADT, I would not come out at my place of work even if it were allowed. Many of the commentators arguing against DADT made it sound like gays and lesbians would be throwing pride parades in the barracks; this is not the case. Most of the other homosexuals I know who serve in the military live quiet and discrete lives. Whether the laws protect us or not, we know that we have to be careful about when/where/to whom we disclose our sexuality, especially in the military.
— K
What’s the Big Deal?
I was enlisted in the Navy in the early 1960’s in a squadron of around 200 souls. My little division included a half and dozen gay guys. We knew who they were, they knew we knew who they were, nobody got excited and we all worked together and went on together just fine. They would go to gay bars and we would go to girl bars, and none of us cared. Only the super paranoid Navy investigators cared, and when they came around nobody knew anything. Get over it, there’s some important stuff to do.
— George Chandler
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