Gays and Sex in the Military

I slept just as high, just as deep as Chris Hamilton (Platform, Dec. 10). I served three years, 10 months and 17 days out of a four-year contract with the Navy that included two six-month deployments aboard the carrier Ranger and the Gulf War. On Nov. 15, 1991, I wrote Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney a critique of sexual bigotry of middle management and by Dec. 16 I was administratively discharged for my own self-description as “a gay in the military.”

Anyone who cared to know about my sexuality was pretty sure, and I figured it was no one’s business unless he propositioned me.

Best thing for both sides? Mind your manners--and read “Military Secret,” my book coming out in 1993. And Bill Clinton should order the Navy to delete questions 27(a) “are you homosexual or bisexual” and 27(b) “do you intend to engage in homosexual acts” from Defense Department Form 1966, which is the original enlistment contract. Ask me no questions, I’ll tell no lies. They don’t have to give it fanfare, just X it out like the old “did you ever use drugs” questions. Then they can change the oft-quoted Military Personnel Manual article 3630400 to read that “smoking,” not “homosexuality,” is incompatible with military service. If you smoke in the confined quarters of an aircraft carrier, I hate your guts.

ROBERT DAVID GRAHAM

Los Angeles