Twelve years after repeal of the ban on gay and lbian troops servg openly, no one the ary or Veterans Admistratn knows how many vets are still whout the benefs they're owed.
Contents:
- I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.
- I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
- TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY
- ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
- GAY TORY MP FIGHTS BACK TEARS OVER 'DAMAGE' HE SUFFERED HIDG HIS SEXUALY THE ARMY
I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.
Soldiers reprentg the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer muny virtually celebrated Pri Month Thursday * being gay in the army *
In rponse, and apparently to monstrate his petency his assigned posn, the nonmissned officer had taken upon himself to approach the person he nsired cled toward mtg a siar offense the future: me, the only openly gay soldier my un. Together we approached our un’s learship, where she sisted that the ments had stemmed om the reprentative’s own homophobic feelgs and remend that he be reprimand and removed om his posn as the un’s sexual harassment watchdog. But by then was hard to ignore the anxiety I felt durg required social activi — “mandatory fun, ” as ’s lled the ary — or the tensn om my fellow moment I cid to bee a soldier and the moment I chose to live openly as a gay man occurred so closely time that ’s hard to remember which me first.
I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
As "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to an end, we sent Chris Heath to terview dozens of gay servicemen om the past and prent to fd out what life was really like as Ameri's ary stggled wh s last great inty crisis * being gay in the army *
It was still four months before the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell, ” a double-edged policy prohibg askg any service member about his or her sexualy while enforcg a ban on openly gay service members. A uple were more elaborate: tailed scriptns of what might happen to me if I was ught alone, and proclamatns about the wrongns of gays the ary.
TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY
While the LGBT ary muny has seen creased reprentatn the past , stris are still beg ma to improve acceptance, tegratn and health for gay and transgenr service members. * being gay in the army *
There are moments when feels wrong to claim my stat as a veteran; as if beg gay ma me ls of a soldier and somehow validated my service. Every memory evok an emotn: rage that I had to serve wh a nstant sense of fear of my fellow soldiers; paralyzg sadns for those who endured ab worse than I n know; and, the worst, guilt over the service members — gay or straight or transgenr — who died while servg the ary while my body is still whole.
ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
WASHINGTON -- Sce Maj. Gen. Tammy Smh, the ary’s hight-rankg openly gay officer, me out 2012, she has tried beg an example of livg... * being gay in the army *
I was one of few soldiers who joed the service before graduatg high school, but the admistratn at the time, which I believe was homophobic, chose to act as if I never existed bee of my queer hate that I experienced growg up on Long Island was my first enunter wh how others would treat me as a queer soldier. WASHINGTON -- Soldiers reprentg the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer muny virtually celebrated Pri Month Thursday as part of a discsn that marked another step the Army’s growg regnn toward the LGBTQ muny.
GAY TORY MP FIGHTS BACK TEARS OVER 'DAMAGE' HE SUFFERED HIDG HIS SEXUALY THE ARMY
* being gay in the army *
Every June, Pri Month is a natnal observance that is held to memorate the Stonewall Uprisg Manhattan, New York, 1969, a historic tippg pot wh the gay liberatn movement to empower all LGBTQ Amerins. The directive was a promise measure that barred LGBTQ-intifyg persons om ary service, but also prohibed ary personnel om discrimatg agast, or harassg, closeted gay and lbian troops.
The are the voic explag what has been like to be a gay man1 the Amerin ary over the prev seventy or so years, om World War II veterans their late eighti to young servicemen on active duty. "I remember beg the Castro, " says John Forrett (army rerve, 1987–99), "and watchg the TV at a bar wh some iends, watchg Al Gore and Bill Clton swearg that if they beme the tag team for Ameri they were gog to get rid of the harassment of gays and lbians servg the ary.
" Gay people were allowed the ary but only as long as they didn’t reveal their sexualy; to facilate this, all members of the ary were also prohibed om quirg about anyone’s possible orientatn. Servicemen were advised that until then the policy would still apply, and that they uld potentially face s sanctns if they intify themselv publicly as gay.
Most lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr service members are still reluctant to disclose their sexual orientatn or inty. * being gay in the army *
You’re a Mare, you don’t md gettg dirty, gog out to the field and not showerg for weeks at a, if you were gay, when you have to shower wh all the other guys you’d get all exced.
The new data, shared exclively wh CBS News, vers the years om 1980 until the feral urts lifted the ban agast gay and lbian service members 2010. * being gay in the army *
One Man’s Operatn Iraqi FreedomMany gay servicemen the morn era—cludg Eric Alva (Mar, 1991–2004)—have pleted long ary reers whout their sexualy ever beg revealed. And therefore few people realized that the first Amerin serly wound the vasn of Iraq durg the send Gulf war was a gay Alva signed up, before "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, " he had to lie on his paperwork. Lbians have suffered unr the same prohibns and prejudic and share many of the same experienc, as well as some that are distct, but this article ncentrat on the experience of gay men.