“As a young, gay officer who is currently serving on active duty, I have been waiting years for the day when I can show up to work and not have to lie about what I did on the weekend or the gay circle of friends I spend much of my free time with. As you can undoubtedly imagine, I was anxious to hear what my superiors had to say on the subject of the post-repeal military…
“I listened intently while trying to look as if I was barely paying attention. I looked to see how everyone else was reacting only to mimic their posture, their level of attentiveness, and their own reactions to the conversation.
“A good friend of mine, also gay, was standing next to me… We barely looked at each other the entire time. His posture was much like mine, only he didn’t laugh. He didn’t smile. There was a cold emptiness in him which I had rarely seen before. I guess that was his way of not drawing attention to himself…
“While the “training objective” was met that day, the real training did not take place in that room. In almost every instance since, when someone has made a homophobic comment, the problem has been self-policed… Whether or not they mean it is a moot point. The fact is, the seed has been planted in their minds, and they know what they are saying is wrong – and probably have for a while.”
– Soldier X, TIME magazine‘s new blogger, still closeted in the military and blogging anonymously about the DADT repeal until its actual instatement.
Ted B. (Charging Rhino)
Now let’s hope that no-one purposefully or accidentally “outs” this young officer. And by that I includes the military G/L community not speculating on which of the compatriots is “Soldier X” in their own blogs or their comments on open blog-sites like this one.
Let’s intelligently discuss what he reports, but not who he is. For once I ask the G/L community self-police itself and just “don’t ask, don’t tell” about Soldier X. Just don’t….
Cam
This is great news. Equality for women, minorities, etc… did not gain huge tracktion because everybody changed their minds. The momentum really got going because it became unacceptable to openly discriminate and harrass them.
(Yes, before all the people come in here going “There are still sexual harrassment suits etc…”) Yes, i’m aware of that, but long gone are the days when managers will smack a woman in the office on the ass and tell her to get coffee for them while they’re all telling inappropirate jokes in a meeting.
Hopefully this is the major tipping point for the military.
Armand
Soldier X is probably a paid [failed] writer for TIMES magazine, living in the suburbs of Washington while watching re-runs of Oprah.
I sure like his suffering prose.
Rob Moore
@Ted B. (Charging Rhino): I am with you. It would be good for once if he is not outed until and unless DADT is actually ended. I will believe it when it happens but at least one of the Republican senators from my state, Saxby Chambliss, and all of the members of the House want to repeal the repeal.
Ironically, the senator dodged the draft throughout the Vietnam War finally getting a medical exemption for a bad knee that seems remarkably healthy these days. His predecessor was Max Cleland, a veteran of Vietnam who left two legs and an arm in Vietnam. Republican Chambliss defeated Democrat Cleland in 2002, by questioning Cleland’s patriotism because Cleland was a little skeptical and questioned some of the provisions of the Patriot Act.
Rob Moore
@Ted B. (Charging Rhino): I should have said all the Republican members of the House.