Reply #22: My ex-husband was career military who testified before Congress...

[Dunvegan]

...regarding the issue of gay Americans serving in the military.

As he was a Chief Petty Officer on a sub he was asked to testify about the viability of gay and straight military sharing the closest of quarters.

His testomony made the front page of the New York Times. He made a strong case for gay rights. He said that the worst strife between men on his submarine was never between gay and straight, but seamen from different religions.

Navy didn't much like it, it seems. They decided to make his life a living hell so as to both make an example of him, and to get him to crack and quit so they wouldn't have to give him full benefits upon retirement.

He only had six months to go before 20-and-out, and although we hadn't been in touch in about 20 years, he contacted me as well as all of his old friends, as he needed all the support he could get to get through those hellish six months.

He did make it through, though.

Now he's a professor at a university.

Hang in there...it's a risk that may be worth taking.