Navy men gay

Veterans from all over have attended the town halls, including sailors from USS Constitution. It was at a duty station in Puerto Rico, where his family is from, that Santiago felt he “really started to come out to myself.” Being among family and friends in a familiar culture provided Santiago the support he needed to venture out and live authentically as himself.

In his experience, adherence to DADT depended on the individual commanding officers. “It’s important for everybody to know that we’ve always been here. Created by Andy Parker, whose previous credits include Netflix's adaptation of Armistead Maupin's LGBT literary classic Tales of the City, Boots is faithful to the spirit of Cope White's book, which is candid, comedic and bigger on positivity than pity.

It doesn’t get any more special than that. I called the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network [now Modern Military Association of America] at the time and I asked for advice. The Department of Defense begins observing LGBT Pride Month.

• 11 February 2013. But, he also knew he had the support of Commander Bullard.

  “It’s very important to hear these experiences. At the time, the question on 17-year-old Santiago’s mind was, “What’s going to happen while I’m in service, while I’m wearing the uniform?” Santiago, who is gay, resolved that he would do everything possible to finish at least one tour of duty. Though women now hold combat roles, the military remains 82.3% male—creating a traditionally homosocial environment that can foster strong same-sex bonds.

  And then there’s the Navy.

  Just recognize him in a very formal way outside of love.’ So I did mention him in my speech. "Some of the former marines who worked on this series [as historical advisers] aren't gay, but they found these policies just as absurd [as their gay counterparts]," Parker says, pointing to the way they seemed "completely counterintuitive to the social cohesion" at the core of military life.

  We took that oath. His partner, who he introduced to shipmates as his “cousin,” fully understood Santiago’s career and the personal sacrifices that came with it.

  

  While ships out in the fleet have crews of hundreds or thousands of sailors, USS Constitutionis a small, diverse unit of around 70 sailors. "Our gay main character certainly has a secret that's very high stakes for him in that environment," Parker says, "but everybody he meets there also has something they're hiding or running from.

  Something that the federal government didn’t take at the time.” As a mentor, he also understood that leadership was integral in setting the tone. "But I wasn't allowed to be my authentic self, and I couldn't continue being inauthentic with people that I admired and respected so much." 

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