Wednesday , 17 January 2024

Occupy Love: Salute to LGBT Veterans

[Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta, left, kisses her girlfriend of two years, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell in the first time a same-sex couple was chosen for Navy’s traditional homecoming kiss]

On this Valentine’s Day we must acknowledge how love has changed in the modern day. Whether you agree with gay marriage or not, the issue has landed in the back yard of all Americans. Several states have already acknowledged the rights of LGBT Americans. If you need an example of how this translates into economic stimulus all you have to do is look at cake sales in San Francisco (before rights were again repealed).

In my time in the Navy the LGBT active duty community was always recognizable and never talked about. Having observed a young man (we will call him Sean) transgress through the military as undeniably and admittedly, gay, I would like to share some of his story.

He was not in my division in Boot Camp. But I remember Sean because every time he opened his mouth everyone would turn their heads. RDCs would make him sound off in order to shame him in front of the rest of his division. In the mess hall leadership would place him at the turnstiles to greet people. Boot Camp had controlled hazing. Hazing was more subtle in the modern training ground.

Through, what I am sure was a ton of abuse, Sean, graduated from Boot Camp and what is called “A” school. We were stationed on the same command and even though I had observed his sufferings for the last 5 months I never exchanged a word with him. Sean encountered new abuse at our new command from leadership and peers. But about the second year something changed.

The division he was in started to accept him because of his work ethic. When another division would try to tease Sean, a gang of his ship mates would come to his rescue. Sean and the members of his division started joke uneasily about his orientation and overall gentle demeanor. When Sean was having hard times and wanted out of the Navy he tried to use his sexuality to get kicked out, his chain of command would not allow it.

Sean had become too important to his unit for his sexuality to matter. It was Sean’s struggle that defined his character. His inability to project any other image than his genuine self made him a strong addition to his division; they put their lives in his hands. The question has been asked whether a homosexual person  is as good of a soldier as a straight person. I would say, there is a strong possibility that LGBT are sometimes better. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Mitt Romney’s Response:

About karololesiak

Karol Olesiak is a poet, writer, and activist. He is a graduate of Eugene Lang Liberal Arts College at The New School and an MFA from The University of San Francisco. As a Navy sailor, he commissioned the USS Ronald Reagan, navigated the straits of Magellan, and served in the Persian Gulf. In 2011 Karol headlined The Bowery Poetry Club in New York. That same year he became a staunch supporter of The Occupy Wall Street Movement and became entrenched in the Occupy network of affinity groups. Karol was one of the founders of www.soldiersforthecause.org. He became an antiwar activist in 2010 and has written many political essays. He has been translated into Spanish. Karol's poetry has been incorporated into cinematography and sound art.

Check Also

#SFTC Statement on Ukrainian Crisis

We here at #SFTC decry war in any form and therefore in response to the …

Reckoning of the Hacker Martyr

It’s been over a week since the announcement that Julian Assange will be extradited to …

Why Net Zero is Blah Blah Blah

“I’d like to see the government get out of war altogether and leave the whole …

Exclusive: USS Ronald Reagan UAP Encounter

This article is a departure from our usual content. Most of the founders of #SFTC …

Defund VA Police

Activist veteran organizations need to look at VA Police. More than half of minority vets …

Vanessa Guillen: MST Martyr?

Vanessa Guillen was bludgeoned with a hammer, on base, in the armory, her remains were removed in a box. Several people saw, now deceased due to suicide, Aaron Robinson struggling with the box the night Vanessa disappeared. Guillen was a private and Robinson was a specialist. They both worked in the armory but in the army that small rank difference means a lot, and many, (if not most) exploit that.

Juneteenth, Warren Court & Trans Lives

Warren’s leadership and influence over the other judges lead to a subversion of the Jim Crow South. The zeitgeist of minority rights against majority oppression was institutionalized irreversibly by the Warren Court.

Prison Abolition in the Age of Coronavirus

In the Prison Abolition Movement, it is a well-known fact that Police have a shared history with Slave Catching. There was a need to capture runaway slaves in metropolitan areas before that there was no need for police. Most of the lynchings of Jim Crow South were well attended and represented by police and how enforcement is distributed today is reflection of that history. Too many police and prison guards are former military to ignore the link to the prison industrial complex.

Radicalisation

On the history of radicalization in the Western context. It can be argued that Saul …

Fake News

In 2012 I wrote an entry about Julian Assange and Russia Today (RT). At the …

Watch: The King of Stolen Valor

Oki’s Weird Stories finally made a documentary that’s relevant to us. The youtube channel has …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.