Don’t Ask Me – A Career in the Military Closet
My blog entry the other day about Obama and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell spurred some good comments. Thanks! Today, I came across this blog which looks at the issue from a different perspective- that of someone in the Military Closet.
I think one of the things I appreciate most about blogging, is that it has prompted me to search for, and read so many different viewpoints and ideas. This guy ranks way up there for me, in terms of having something worth reading.
I haven’t known that many people who were GLBT and active military. The first was 27 years ago- the summer after I finished college. I had discovered a public pool not too far from my apartment, and had taken to walking there most afternoons. I was taking a grad level class, so I’d study, lounge in the sun, and chit-chat with friends. There were two guys who came to the pool as well. One was extremely handsome and muscular. al my friends had the hots for him, but no one would talk to him. One day, I casually started a conversation, and a friendship ensued. He was military, and while he would have said, “no” if asked if he was gay, he was 100% into guys. Not much happened for us past becoming friends. We went out on a few dates, and hung out at the pool, but as I was leaving Columbus in August, there was no sense in pursuing anything more than that.
About a dozen years ago, I made a friend with a guy who wasn’t at all gay, but was career military. Â We had surprisingly, many interests in common, but we unfortunately lost contact. He had no trouble with the fact I was gay, and said he knew a number of gay guys in the service.
Most recently, I’ve known several guys to go to Iraq. None very close to me. and then a month of so ago, I had the opportunity to hear a woman speak, who had had to leave the military due to DADT.
Don’t Ask Me – by Todd Allen Knotts: A Career in the Military Closet: Looking Back.
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