Openly gay in the Army, what to expect

I know how you feel. This summer I will be going into the Navy. I am nervous as well, but I am going to remain true to myself no matter what other people think. Now that I dont have to remain silent, I have the power to protect myself without fear.

 

Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been formally repealed not too long ago. Go nuts.

 

From what i understand you really don't need to worry about it. I know a number of gay military people (especially lesbians because for some reason i know a lot of lesbians). But all of them say they have no real issues with them being a lesbian. The way i understand it is that they generally get a pretty good reception although most of them apparently stayed quiet about it for a while and waited for their sexuality to get out on it's own rather than formally coming out to people. Of course most of the lesbians i know in the military also enlisted while DADT was still in place but even then most of them where out on some level.

 

I really wouldnt worry. With DADT being repealed, you can go to a superior if anyone messes with you.

 

you only have to worry if a anti-constitution republican is elected to the presidency, which basically is all of the current canidates. even so, it will be hard for them to sucede in overturning it, since majority support for repeal of DADT existed both in the civilian and in the military worlds.

 

The only way a president could over turn the repeal would be through an Executive order, which would be career suicide. The presidential candidates knows there is no possible way they will be able to do it, especially with there being enough time until they take office to prove that it doesn't affect military readiness. The only reason they are even making it an issue in this election is in the hopes of winning over those few far-far-right republicans.

 

Ok guys I am former Navy myself and can tell you my branch of service people dont really care. I know a few people from other branches and in my experience most of them felt if you can do your job and dont expect to be treated differently well then you are ok by them. I do want you to know you WILL be teased. You WILL be messed with but you can tell when its brotherly and sisterly fun and when its mean. I will give you an example. I am really short so people made fun of my height all the time, would put my tech bag up high to mess with me. But they never meant any harm by it. Sure it gets kinda rough with the teasing but everyone does it to everyone. They will expect you to mess with them back. Really though if it goes to far tell them and they are very likely to chill. To No One if you have more direct questions about boot or the Navy in general message me I will answer all I can. When you are ready to hit the fleet after boot keep in touch I am sure I can give you info that will be useful or at least make sure your command is doing what it should.

 

I've been in the army for nearly 6 years now, and I'm going to be making Staff Sergeant soon - So I've spent most of my time in a DADT-enforced army.

Honestly its a mixed bag. DADT is gone, but the amount of crap you'll get really matters what kind of unit you'll be going to. Are you going to be around a lot of combat arms guys (infantry, combat engineers, etc), then you may catch flak. Since you're female, you probably won't have any problem - I've only ever seen gay males catch any heat about anything, and that was prior to DADT. Nowdays as long as your command isn't incompetent anyone giving any GLBT person trouble for their sexuality should be punished either internally or under the UCMJ.

I've known lots of gay people in the Army, myself included, and haven't seen anything terrible at all, just a bit of misunderstanding (people thinking you're gonna hit on them etc). Now that DADT is gone I've not seen any harassment. Again, the Army is HUGE and it totally depends on where you go - you could go to a bad unit or a good unit. Hell, there's 2 gay guys in my current company and they're both extremely out of the closet and honestly no one really cares. I keep my orientation separate from work, personally, because I don't feel that they should have anything to do with each other and people I work with don't need to know, but those that I consider good friends I've had no problems telling.

Any questions about army life etc. or being GLBT in the service, you can ask me or PM me.

Edit: Also, while you can be openly gay, don't bring it into the workplace or flaunt it around a unit - your personal life shouldn't interfere with your duties, which holds true for GLBT and straight people alike. I'm a firm believer in the fact that if you're in the Army, you're a Soldier first and foremost, taking precedence over anything else.