Young and Lonely: Why Some Milary Men Really Fear LGBT People and Gay Sex

Contents:

• GAY BARRACKS? MILARY FAC THORNY QUTNS
• TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY
• I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.
• GAY SOLDIERS AT FORT CAMPBELL OPEN UP ON G OUT
• YOUNG AND LONELY: WHY SOME MILARY MEN REALLY FEAR LGBT PEOPLE AND GAY SEX

GAY BARRACKS? MILARY FAC THORNY QUTNS

For opponents of the ban agast homosexuals servg openly the ary, the steps by Congrs this week to repeal the policy, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell, ” were a major now they are girdg for what may be an equally difficult task: the transn to a force where straight and openly gay servicemen and women live, work and fight alongsi one other.

Some homosexuals the ary say they are worried about how that procs will work and whether they will be treated differently if they publicly acknowledge their sexual raised ncerns about beg harassed, assigned to separate barracks or shunned by lleagu who had been iendly before. And what trag will heterosexual officers and enlisted troops receive to prepare them to serve wh openly gay soldiers, sailors, airmen and Mar? “The realy is, gettg rid of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ don’t ensure that all lbian and gay service members will be equal on that day, ” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY

A Pentagon panel has begun studyg the issu around gays servg openly as part of a broad review of homosexualy the ary, which will clu surveys of thoands of service members and their panel, led by Gen. Elae Donnelly, a leadg supporter of the ban on homosexuals servg openly, said she expected major fights over hog issu, cludg whether gay upl should be allowed to live together on bas, as married heterosexual upl are. Donnelly, print of the Center for Milary Reads, a nonprof policy group, also predicted fierce bate over l erng antidiscrimatn polici toward homosexuals.

She said she and other supporters of the ban worried that service members who oppose homosexualy on relig grounds would be nied promotns, a policy she lled “zero tolerance” toward anti-gay discrimatn. Nicholson lled such ncerns “polil posturg, ” assertg that tens of thoands of gay people already serve the ary, many open to their clost peers, whout problems.

I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.

Gay advot said that feral law would prohib same-sex spo om receivg the fancial and health re benefs that heterosexual spo receive om the ary. “If you tst a soldier wh your life, that’s what is most important, not beg gay, ” said Specialist Kev Garcia of the Army, who has done two tours Iraq and is now statned at Fort Sam Hoton San Anton. But Keh Johnson, a petty officer first class wh the Coast Guard and a former Mare, said he opposed homosexualy on relig grounds and thought repealg the ban would hurt morale.

13, 000 discharged for homosexualyMore than 13, 000 service members have been discharged for homosexualy sce the law was enacted 1993, though the rate of discharg has cled. After beg acced of sexual harassment 2008, Colonel Fehrenbach, who had flown bat missns over Iraq and Afghanistan, admted to beg gay, even discsg his sexualy on “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC. 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.

GAY SOLDIERS AT FORT CAMPBELL OPEN UP ON G OUT

’ "Air Force #1: "Two of my iends were disvered, both officers—’s a long and arduo procs for an officer to get kicked out for beg gay. 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. I mean, if you want to hi, the Mare Corps is one of the bt plac to do that, bee nobody wants to adm they are standg next to a gay guy.

YOUNG AND LONELY: WHY SOME MILARY MEN REALLY FEAR LGBT PEOPLE AND GAY SEX

I had ma about halfway through and the recer was trated wh how long was takg me, and he said, ’Well, basilly, are you gay? 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.