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Navy Petty Officer Stephen C. Jones Won’t Be Ousted For Falling Asleep In Bed With Another Man

Stephen C. Jones — the 21-year-old Navy petty officer who was threatened with discharge after his bunkmate “caught him” asleep on his bed with a fellow sailor, wearing only boxer shorts — is not going to be kicked out. Jones, who is gay but cannot say so without the threat of discharge under DADT, was accused of “willful failure to exhibit professional conduct” for being in bed with another man when the pair dozed off while watching The Vampire Diaries at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command outside Charleston. (He was not charged under anything related to DADT.) Now all that’s going away, says a release from Servicemembers United. While Jones hired a former JAG to represent him in fighting the Navy’s attempted termination, Brian McGee, the fellow sailor who was in Jones’ bed, previously admitted to committing a lesser crime, which means docked pay but he’ll remain in the Navy. Which is too bad, because it’s clear the Navy’s attempt to persecute these two men was driven not by actual misconduct, but by homophobia. [Note: That is not Jones pictured in the photo.]

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