deusabscondidum

All I had to do was write a letter stating that I was gay, and handed it to my Commanding Officer. (I was an admin person, so the office was right next door.) I went through the proper channels first, though.

This works, it’s easy. The only downside, however, is that the DD-214 will say something like “homosexual admission” or “homosexual activity” as the reason for leaving. This is the thing that proves to employers I am in the navy, so if I ran into homophobic ones, then that would be an issue. However, once ENDA passes, this will no longer be an issue. (But then DADT will probably be reformed by then, as I expect it is more palatable to most people than ENDA.)

This is well worth doing! If you hate being in the military, do this. You’ll get an honorable discharge. You don’t need to prove that you are queer, you just need to say that you are. Visit the SLDN (Service Member’s Legal Defense Network) for more info.

http://www.sldn.org/

You can call them if you are in trouble as well. They are very helpful.

My mother’s last words before leaving home for the Navy were “Stay away from Gay people.” Both my parents had been marines, so there were few illusions about what the military would be like. (Granted, my mother had been in during the 70s, so things were a little different then.) She never said whether she feared I might be hurt by those who want to bash queers, or whether she figured that queers were just a bad influence.

At any rate, I didn’t have to heed her advice, as there were no queers to be found. As I am transgendered, however, I suppose my parents can be thankful that at least I like men? In some weird twist of fate, anyway. (FtMs can get pregnant now, so they can nurse that hope, although it will never happen with me.)

I haven’t talked to them in about five years now, and have wrestled with the idea of coming out to them for a long time. The main reason I haven’t is that my biological mother is dying. I don’t want to cause any jabs, and I’m not doing this just to say, “HAH. This thing that you don’t like and maybe feared is true!” I would rather heal things, or at least tell them, “I’m alive, I’m okay, and unless you really want to make up, we’re done.” Closure for all of us is what I’m hoping for. Not that I think it will happen.

There is a lovely website called www.purplemath.com, which lists most topics to be encountered in the lower level math classes. I’ve used it this past quarter to do a self-study course for lower level Algebra, and plan to skip toward the third level. I need to start soon, though.