I spent a great deal of my military career thinking I was a straight woman. I spent the last 3 years knowing that I wasn’t. About 7 years before my retirement, I left the full time employ of the National Guard for a civilian position. I stayed in a traditional, drilling National Guard position (weekends and summer training). It was during that time that I became friends with a lesbian soldier who later was there for me when I, myself came out.
My friends sexual orientation was what you’d call an open secret. Everyone she worked with knew she was gay. No one among her direct coworkers cared. I had one other friend, in a different work group, who was vehemently outspoken about friend number one continuing to serve given that she was a known lesbian. Other soldiers around that second woman, both male and female, actually expressed indifference as long as as the first woman performed the duties of the job that she was assigned. She was – and continues to be – an exemplary soldier.
During the time that I served with her, she very privately outed several other gays and lesbians in the Guard to me. Many of them I had already suspected…guess I was developing gaydar for later use, but I digress. Most of these soldiers were technically closeted but, in their duty areas, their coworkers knew. Even in the Guard, where we typically only saw each other two days a month, you became a cohesive team. You knew your fellow soldiers. You relied on them and you appreciated them. Being homosexual wasn’t a big deal at all as long as you had your buddy’s back.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) didn’t mean a lot in the Ohio Army National Guard for enlisted troops to include those that served in full-time positions as I had and as my friend did and still does. Our troops were mobilized so much, every soldier was needed. Many of our finest soldiers, were part of the LGBT community and the command structure was perfectly aware of it. During my service, I saw two gay soldiers and one lesbian discharged for their orientation. Only three out of hundreds. One discharged gay soldier was mobilized and acted so brazenly to defy orders while deployed in a ploy to get thrown out/sent home for being gay that the command structure had no choice but to discharge him. The other two were mid-grade officers. In both cases, they let their sexual orientation interfere with the performance of their duties to their own detriment. They were removed for not being effective leaders, as they should have been. Several other officers, male and female that were known to be homosexual, continued to serve honorably. Many still do.
My experience and that of my fellow Ohio Guard soldiers is not typical. Many, many military service members suffered severely as both closeted and outed gays in the military. DADT did nothing to make life easier for any of them. Witch hunts continued primarily at the direction of an aging command structure. Lesbian soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen suffered more than their gay male counterparts. They were often the subject of intense harrassment in primarily male dominated organizations where a few bad eggs with ego issues thought they could teach these women who would dare enter their profession a lesson.
Zsa Zsa Gershick (a former Army Reservist) tells the story of discharged lesbian Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer and 31 other lesbian women in her 2005 book Secret Service: Untold Stories of Lesbians in the Military
Some of the original reviews:
“… A sobering and eye-opening book chronicling the difficult life of lesbians in the military. A must-read for everyone.” – GayWired.com, June 28, 2005
“…Demonstrates why lifting the ban would benefit the U.S., and makes it obvious that DADT is … capriciously enforced.” – Gay City News, July 28 – Aug. 3, 2005
“Candid … informative … Secret Service makes it perfectly clear that there is still much blatant discrimination against lesbian and gay servicemen.” – The L Life, October 4, 2005
“Documents the … toxic burden that DADT imposes on brave American women willing to risk their lives for their country … .” – Aaron Belkin, director, Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, May 2005
“Uncovers shocking stories of sexual assault, harassment, and witch hunts, an atmosphere made more toxic by “don’t ask, don’t tell.” – The Advocate, July 5, 2005
There are many more positive reviews from readers. This book provides and excellent look at what life is/was like in the military for a lesbian woman. Gershick draws these women out well. Their stories are compelling and honest. I laughed along with several of them at the survival tactics they employed and the good times they had. I cried with others. My heart went out to many.
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