NEW LONDON, Conn. — Military academy students say that 10 years after the end of “don’t ask, don’t tell," there is wide acceptance of gays, lesbians and bisexuals, but that work remains.
There are occasional homophobic or ignorant comments, including online postings, which can be hurtful. Transgender students still face much resistance.
In its history, the military dismissed more than 100,000 servicemembers due to their sexual or gender identities. That included 14,000 during the “don’t ask, don’t tell" era.
Active military personnel and veterans who served then are remembering a darker time when they feared having their sexual and gender identities revealed.
Kelli Normoyle was nervous as she arrived at the Coast Guard Academy campus in Connecticut in 2008. She had come out as a lesbian to a few friends near the end of high school, but she faced a military environment where “don’t ask, don’t tell” was still the policy prohibiting gay people from serving openly.
Gays and lesbians were banned in the military until the 1993 approval of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which allowed them to serve only if they did not openly acknowledge their sexual orientation. Rather than helping, advocates say, the policy actually created more problems.
Repeal of the law was approved by Congress and President Barack Obama in late 2010 and took effect nine months later, allowing lesbian, gay and bisexual people to serve openly.
Normoyle, 32, of New Jersey, and fellow cadet Chip Hall led the formation of the Coast Guard Academy’s Spectrum Diversity Council, the first advocacy group for LGBTQ students at a U.S. military academy, a few months after “don’t ask, don’t tell” ended on Sept. 20, 2011. Similar groups later formed at the other four service academies.
