I'm a Gay Army Officer—Queer Troops Must Fight Back
CBS News, figures reveal there were 35,801 individuals discharged due to their sexual orientation from 1980 to 2011, and 81 percent of these soldiers were denied honorable discharges.These soldiers were stripped of support systems that should have helped reintegrate them into society.
Instead, these LGBTQ+ veterans have been abandoned by the very institutions they swore to protect.The current brand of LGBTQ+ oppression within the military revolves around erasure, as the Pentagon has cracked down on drag performances under pressure from extremist lawmakers.They have brushed aside a beloved tradition dating back to World War II and shoved a whole new generation of LGBTQ+ members of the military, such as myself, back into the closet.Although many of these policies have been reversed, I feel that the mindset engrained within them lives on.
Many people still hold misconceptions and biases against LGBTQ+ soldiers, believing them to be less capable or a disruption to unit cohesion.This unfounded prejudice has supported the stigma in the military community that LGBTQ+ soldiers joined for the wrong reasons.
I have chosen to educate other soldiers, rather than let their biased viewpoints prevail.I make it clear to those I have served with that people like me do not want to rub our identities in their faces.
