What It Will Be Like on the Day After DADT Expires

[William769]

On May 19, 2009, I made my first appearance on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and told my story as a gay airman on national television for the first time. My life changed dramatically that day. But it wasn’t for all the reasons I feared.

When I returned to work, uncertain of the reaction I would get from my squadron mates and from friends I had known for years, some for more than a decade, I thought I might get fired. Or maybe I’d be tucked away somewhere until my discharge was finalized.

Even though I had been fighting my discharge (internally) for over a year, almost no one in my squadron or on my base knew there was an investigation or discharge proceeding against me. So I continued to work in the same job, in the same squadron, with the same airmen. I told no one outside my chain of command what was going on. While I was deciding whether to speak out, I knew I might lose lifelong friends or that I might not be able to function anymore in my squadron as such a highly visible spokesman for the repeal of ”don’t ask, don’t tell.”

But the day I returned to work after my national coming-out was one of the proudest in my 20-year career. I will never forget donning my uniform that morning and walking to my squadron. After all those years, I have never felt the same overwhelming sense of pride. It hit me: I no longer had to lie, no longer had to hide from anyone, no longer had to look over my shoulder. As I approached the front door to my squadron, I actually felt myself walking taller.


http://www.advocate.com/Politics/Commentary/OP-ED__What_It_Will_Be_Like_On_The_Day_After_DADT_Expires/

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/11/18/Victor_Fehrenbach_Talks_With_Rachel_Maddow/