Your Stories
Patricia Baillie
When I joined the Air Force in 1978, I had been out for almost 10 years. I identified as bisexual, so when they asked me if I was gay, I could answer "No" in good conscience.
Sonya Contreras
"Raise your hand if you are gay and this offends you," said my company commander during an Equal Opportunity class on the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy. I did not raise my hand during that class even though as a lesbian I was offended.
Anonymous
I entered the Air Force in May 1963 and was assigned to the aviation cadet program. After 14 months of training, I graduated as a second lieutenant with navigator wings. Following some additional training, I was assigned as a navigator to a B-52 squadron.
Walt Young
When I was called up for the draft, I had some inkling that I was gay. But I decided not to claim homosexuality to get out of serving and to serve my country in the U.S. Navy. I still thought that I could deny feelings that I was gay. I still thought I could serve my country proudly, as my father and mother had done in World War II, and as my brother was doing in the U.S. Air Force at the time.
Donn B. Murphy
Every person who wants to serve our country should have those same opportunities.
Michael McEnroe
I served proudly as an Army Military Intelligence Officer on active duty for nine years. I was a strategic U.S./Korean intelligence staffer in Korea, and a tactical intelligence officer in Germany (brigade level S-2), where I was entrusted with access to nuclear codes and oversaw intelligence and security for an army installation and a nuclear weapons storage site.