More stories of harassment and investigations
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In May 1978, after 18 months of unblemished military duty, I was
unceremoniously booted from the Army with a Chapter 13 discharge
("unsuitability due to homosexuality"). I was caught in a "witch hunt"
early that year, and several lesbian and bisexual women were discharged
from Fort Leonard Wood around the same time as me. What I remember most
was that I was ordered to undergo psychological counseling, though I
believe this was just another interrogation tool and not offered for my
benefit. (Remember, in the military medical/psych records are not
confidential.) I also vividly recall the Criminal Investigation Division
personnel following me everywhere and blatantly parking outside the
off-post trailer in which I lived. In a way, I guess I was lucky. Though
the CID agents were persistent and annoying, they never threatened me
with physical harm or jail time as I was told they had done to other
women being investigated.
-- Anonymous
I was in the U.S. Air Force for seven years. I was just discharged on
December 23, 1999 for being gay. I was outed by another military member
who wanted more than friendship with me. It was the hardest thing that I
have ever gone through and the most nerve-racking. I spent 7 years trying
to hide, and my worst fear was that someone would find out. Then my worst
fear came true. I am 100% happier now that I am out and working for a
company that supports gay relationships.
-- Brian Moczynski
I was raised in a very strict, conservative, Republican home and so I did
not come out when I was at home. I joined active duty Navy, and was in it
for about two years. I found that I could be the sailor that was expected
of me and still be gay. I often spent time off base at the local gay
hangouts in Norfolk, Virginia. I even met other sailors who were gay. I
knew of chiefs and officers who played around, too. I didn't worry about
being found out. I had received awards and medals for being a good
sailor, so I thought they would not find out. One day I went to a local
store, and in the course of shopping I had to use the restroom. I knew
that it was a pickup spot, but I just went in to use the restroom. A
young kid came in and then left, and before I was done the security guard
was in. He said I'd tried to have sex with the kid, which I hadn't. Back
on the ship it was decided that I was gay and needed to be discharged. I
knew from others I had known that I could not fight it. So I accepted the
fact. I was lucky because I got an honorable discharge, but others I knew
were not so lucky.
-- Jose
I joined the Navy right after President Clinton was elected. During my
investigation for my security clearance I was turned in by my friends
back in my hometown for being gay. Because I knew where the loopholes
were, I was cleared of the charges. At that time I hadn't been involved
with anyone for over a year and a half. Then right before I left the
military I was again investigated because of letters a coworker had found
on my computer, which he interpreted to be to a same-sex lover. They
brought formal charges up against me, which were dismissed within eight
hours. Still, I have been beaten, had derogatory names used against me,
had charges brought against me, and so forth. The ironic thing is that
you can be a wife-beater, cheat on your partner, and basically break all
sorts of laws and still be in the military. But sleep with the wrong
person and you are shamed, stripped of your honor, and given a black mark
on your record for the rest of your life, just because of who you love.
-- Terri Leach
In 1965 I was 17. As the war in Vietnam escalated, I dropped out of high
school, talked my mother into signing a waiver, and joined the U.S. Army
to escape from a life of physical threats from my father and continued
poverty. However, after completing basic training and being selected by
my superiors to attend Trainee Leadership School at Fort Dix, New Jersey,
I told my company commander that I was bisexual. I was interrogated by
the Central Intelligence Division (CID), ordered to see a psychiatrist,
sent to a priest for counseling, and marched to a courthouse in public
through Fort Dix. Finally, after arriving at the courthouse, I was
court-martialed and sentenced to a year of hard labor in a military
prison. I served four of those months in "segregated confinement," as the
other prisoners had threatened to rape and kill me. After my release from
the stockade, I was sent back to my unit for four months to face further
threats of death and humiliation, until the army finally gave me an
Undesirable Discharge, based on homosexuality/bisexuality, which
effectively precluded my receiving any and all VA medical or educational
benefits.
Returning home, I nervously told my mother I was discharged because I
liked guys. Instead of being angry, she told me that she still loved me
and it would be our "secret." But the secret got out to my father when my
mother died of breast cancer five months after my discharge. My father
threw me out of the house and disowned me forever. Then, in 1977, I
petitioned the army for an upgrade in discharge, which was granted and
changed from Undesirable to General Under Honorable Conditions.
-- Cliff Arnesen, President of New England Gay,
Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans
I enlisted in the Army in May of 1994. I was 20 years old. During boot
camp, we had a female drill sergeant who was a lesbian and was open with
other lesbians. I developed a relationship with another female recruit
but never interacted sexually while on the base. The drill sergeant was
being investigated for fraternization with another female recruit, and
every female was called out of the barracks to give statements about who
they thought was gay. Eventually my name came up along with a couple of
others. We were arrested for homosexuality and placed under "house
arrest" in the barracks pending our trial. Due to the conditions in which
we were living, and the treatment we were receiving, we agreed to sign
the discharge and get out of the Army in September of 1994. Being in the
Army was not worth it; enlisting was the biggest mistake I've ever made.
The sexual harassment that women endure is unbelievable. If a woman does
not respond to a man's advances she is labeled a lesbian. I only enlisted
to get money for college. In return, the Army ruined my life. I've been
rejected from jobs because I have a discharge that says "homosexuality"
on it. I've learned to lie and never admit that I was in the military.
-- Anonymous
I came out in the Navy -- I was one of the fortunate ones. I moonlighted
at a gay bar in Cleveland at night. I never said I was gay, but everyone
knew. They just chose to turn the other way. What I did experience was
constant sexual harassment, not for being gay but for being a woman. The
majority of straight men in the military were pigs. The gays are the
least of their troubles. Would I do join again? Absolutely not!
-- Nina
As luck would have it, because of my job I was stationed on a Marine
base. That meant that I had to share a barracks room with two other
Marine females. Of course, my roommates were very much straight. I kept
to myself. Somehow, there were rumors that I was a lesbian, and my
roommate didn't seem to cope with that fact very well. She told me how
much I disgusted her and how I lied by not telling her I was a lesbian. A
week later, I was told I had a phone call downstairs. I answered the
phone, and no one was on the line. When I got back to my room, my door
was open and there were things stolen out of my locker. A month later, I
moved out of the
barracks.
-- Anonymous
I was stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base back in the early '90s,
right before Clinton was elected. After a few months, people in the dorms
started talking about how I was not dating any men. At one point I went
on a date with this man who kept asking me out. I figured this would help
settle any questions they had about my sexual preference. Everything
started to tumble down when I told him I did not want to do anything else
with him, that I was interested in someone else. He didn't handle this
well. He had me followed and found out that I was gay. Later, during a
meeting with some supervisors, they kept pressuring me to answer if I
liked or had ever had sexual relations with women. I knew that I would
risk losing everything if I answered yes. I sat and stared for awhile and
knew that it was time for people to start standing up for what they
believed in. So I stood up and told them that I was gay and had been for
a long time. Their eyes were filled with rage. From that point on they
watched my every move. Eventually, they got me for misconduct.
-- An ex-A1C
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