Helping Each Other Heal: LGBT Veterans’ Health

Helping Each Other Heal: LGBT Veteran Health

To begin to explain LGBT veteran health, Jeff Key posits an alternate reality:  “Imagine if you have this straight Marine, and he serves for six years, but the whole time, he has to pretend that he is gay. When the other guys talks about the guys they’ve screwed, he has to pretend that he did all weekend too. He would be messed up by this because every time you deny your own identity, you die a little inside.”  

The US military has improved for many LGBT members since Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed in 2011, but many oppressive features are more enduring.  LGBT Veterans face challenges similar to all veterans–high incidence of unreported sexual abuse, Veteran Affairs (VA) delays in health service, and high rates of untreated PTSD, homelessness, and suicide. On top of this, however, LGBT veterans encounter military culture and support networks that have only barely begun to recognize their identities, much less meet their needs. Where there are few resources, however, LGBT veterans are helping themselves. The veterans I spoke to have committed to a process of healing that has led them to become advocates for other veterans.

Jennifer Blain joined the Army in 2005, determined to serve her country, even though the military was not trans-friendly. Her first days in training proved traumatic, both when a fellow trainee assaulted her and when her supervisors laughed and refused to report it. After her service, when civilian psychologist diagnosed her PTSD from these events, the VA took a year to process her claim, and then finally wrote, “We do not have sufficient evidence to support your claim.” Without VA support, Blain must pay for PTSD treatment on her own at the same time she is transitioning.

According to the National LGBTQ Taskforce, transgender people are twice as likely to serve in the military as the general population. Blain is an urgent advocate on their behalf:  “All of a sudden, society has an awareness about trans people, but the veteran support network hasn’t gotten down to helping people yet. There are still 34 states where you can be fired for being transgender, which affects reservists. We are abandoning those who need us most.” Blain hopes her activism can lead to greater protections and resources for transgender vets.

Activist, playwright and and former Marine, Jeff Key, like some other LGBT folks, joined the military “because it was helping me to feel better about being queer.” Midway through his service, however, he felt “duped, finding out that [I was] a part of something oppressive.” By coming out publicly on CNN in 2004, he forced the military to discharge him. Key went on to write a one-man play called Eyes of Babylon that performed Off-Broadway and on Showtime, drawing attention to LGBT soldiers and the Iraq War. Telling his story led Key to participate in organizations like Iraq Veterans Against the War and to start his own, The Mehadi Foundation, that provide veterans with support.

Stephen Funk, a 33-year-old San Francisco-based artist, activist, and former Army member, gained instant recognition in 2003 for being the first soldier to denounce the War in Iraq.“People who are oppressed for any reason have two general directions they can go,” he told me, “ You can pass that oppression on to others, or you can feel that oppression, realize that it’s not deserved, and commit not to perpetuate it yourself.” His action ended his military career, earning him a six-month prison sentence, but propelled him forward as a peace advocate.

Once the legal matters had resolved, Funk “started doing more story telling rather than public speaking.” The freeing power of expressing his stories, inspired him to create Veteran Artists, a nonprofit that facilitated the process for others, most notably in “Make Drag Not War.”  a yearly Halloween avant garde event that even Ru Paul tweeted about. During its four-year run.  it featured primarily straight veterans exploring their military experiences indirectly. “Straight up telling a story–especially a PTSD story–can be unhealthy because it makes the groove more deeply ingrained. . . .  By making fun of situations through a drag show, people could tell their stories without fear of being judged, and they could reconnect with the civilian audience.” Though Make Drag Not War! has ended for the time being, Funk plans to continue participating  in veteran advocacy.  

Though healing from war is long and difficult, civilian members of the LGBT community can support our veterans in the process. Sometimes this means giving our veteran friends space to detach from their military identities. Other times, it means listening to and elevating the stories of queer and trans veterans to affirm their value and to advocate for greater protections. Always, it means standing alongside LGBT veterans, so they don’t have to do it on their own.