Ending ‘don't ask, don't tell' didn't end anti-gay harassment in Army

When I’m on the job, everyone knows that I’m an Army sergeant who works as a print and photo journalist. I’ve been in the military for five years, deployed once and am currently stationed at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Germany. But what I’ve kept secret most of my career is that I’ve been attacked repeatedly by fellow soldiers because I’m bisexual.

I had only been in the Army three days when the attacks began in June 2007 at Fort Jackson, S.C. One afternoon, while using a communal shower, I was whipped and subjected to anti-gay slurs by as many as six fellow soldiers who left welts across my genitals, face, backside and midsection. I didn’t dare report the incident because homophobia was widely tolerated.

Four weeks later, a recruit waiting for me atop a flight of stairs shouted “faggot” as he kicked me in the face with such force that he split the lower lid of my left eye. There was so much blood that at first drill sergeants thought my assailant had blinded me. Not only was the tissue around my socket heavily bruised, but the vessels in the white of my eye had hemorrhaged.

My attacker was reduced in rank and was made to repeat basic training. However, I deliberately concealed from investigators that during the preceding month homophobia had led up to the physical assault. I was terrified that my senior drill sergeant, who was openly condescending of male recruits he perceived to be gay or bisexual, would again disregard guidelines of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

In the summer of 2008, a friend at Joint Base Lewis-McChord was ambushed by a member of his artillery unit using a military-taught choke technique meant to restrict the flow of oxygen to the brain. His attacker, joined by others, continued a campaign of anti-gay harassment which led another soldier and me to shelter the victim for nearly three weeks after our leaders turned us away.

But the attacks didn’t stop there. On the eve of the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell, a sergeant encouraged a subordinate to shoot me twice with a stun gun while he looked on saying, “Let’s see if you’ll cry like a little bitch.” A partial recording of the shooting was shown to our staff sergeant, who simply laughed.

Just days before, the same sergeant who’d given the command had publicly mocked me for my perceived sexual orientation, much to the delight of amused privates who joined in. At the time, both supervisors involved were cadre members of the JBLM Warrior Leader Course, which stresses to soldiers to lead by example.

While all of these experiences happened prior to the historic end of don’t ask, don’t tell, they continue to haunt me as an active-duty solider. I don’t feel any more included now by my peers than before.

Soldiers still shout homophobic slurs from their barracks window as I walk by. I was even segregated from the rest of my public affairs colleagues last July to September and made to linger the entire duty day in a storage area filled with broken furniture along with various other dust-covered junk while my desk remained unused.

But that’s not all. I observed commissioned officers distribute anti-gay literature to soldiers at my current duty station some seven months after President Barack Obama ended don’t ask, don’t tell. Not knowing I’m bisexual, they offered me copies. Their message perpetuated damaging stereotypes, shamed people for coming out of the closet and went on to slam gay-rights legislation.

These experiences aren’t unique to me. And while thousands of brave men and women have made significant strides since the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell, diehards persistently undermine the seeds of progress which have finally begun to germinate within the armed forces.

Their intent is to prolong the bias cultivated during decades of legally sanctioned discrimination. Only once true inclusion of sexual minorities has been achieved will there be an end to hate-motivated violence within the military.

And yes: “The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense or the U.S. government.”

Joshua Sizemore was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord from January 2008 to May 2011.