http://lgbtweekly.com/2011/11/10/in-afghanistan-unit-greets-gay-marine-with-threats-to-life/In an ideal world the repeal of DADT would have been enough to right the societal wrongs that had forced gays and lesbians in the military to live clandestine lives, lying about their sexuality for fear of being drummed out of the service if their true feelings were ever revealed; but that wasn’t the case for a Marine serving in Afghanistan we’ll call “Steve Jones.”
Most believe the end of DADT should have given rise to an era of freedom from fear for gay servicemen and servicewomen, but instead, for at least one, it has become the catalyst for an even more hostile environment in at least one unit. According to Steve Jones, his is a group of leathernecks among whom being openly gay means enduring barely disguised threats and large helpings of intimidation.
But the story does not start with the Camp Pendleton-based Marine’s Afghan deployment. Instead, it begins many months earlier when Marine Jones met his boyfriend. Subsequently, upon news of the impending deployment there followed a flurry of “next of kin” official paperwork where Marines were required to confirm who should get their pay and possessions should the unthinkable become an all too common reality of the last 10 years of war.
One day following the repeal of DADT, Marine Jones was called in to what he was assured was a closed-door, private meeting only to learn it had been called to find out why he had put his boyfriend’s name down on the next of kin form instead of his parents. The next day his entire unit knew he was gay, his boyfriend’s name and that the boyfriend had been named as the recipient of any money due him by the military.
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