It sounds like, from the context of his statement, this senator is meeting asking the Secretary of State, Ms. Rice, to consider: if the cost for training and hiring linguists will be so high, why doesn’t the State Department hire the many Pentagon linguists they expelled for being gay, since these people are already trained and have security clearance, and we’ve already invested so much in them?

He also, tongue in cheek, mentioned that we’re lucky the people in Bhagdad don’t know about the fixation and fear the Pentagon has for gay people, because if they did, they could send our troops fleeing with a Lesbian brigade.

I am really sorry to hear you have to live your life feeling that way every day Robert. It is not right that you should.

I know some gay men who are considering enlisting in military service right now, knowing full well that they are gay. Most of them are doing it because, like you, the military has been a part of their family, and they want to carry on in that tradition.

But as it stands now, if they do join the military, then they must make themselves into liars if they have any hope of the military accepting them. From my perspective, I would want no part of such a petty, mean-spirited organization. And it does not seem right for the military to require people to lie or misrepresent themselves if they want to continue serving, when these people have done nothing wrong.

I wish very much that you didn’t have to experience those feelings you mentioned. I wish that the military were able to hold you in high esteem and value for the loyalty and passion you obviously feel for your service. It is a shame that the deeper parts of you that make you a human being with passion — those parts that make being alive worth while — have to be hidden away.

I know of some guys in the military who have managed to find others in similar situations, but it is always risky even just to hang out together. I think that most guys in your situation probably feel very isolated and alone, even with their good buddies beside them, because they have to keep that huge wonderful part of themselves locked away all the time.

For what it’s worth, there are a lot of us guys who are not afraid, who are speaking out and working to bring some enlightened sensibilities to this unjust and injurious policy. We know that it is impossible for you to help right now, being in service to your country through the military.

There are many ways to serve your country, or even moreso, your fellow man. But the military is very, very slow to change and adapt. But when it finally does, we will know that we have reached a better place for all of us, and certainly not just in the military.

You deserve respect for who you are. And as an organization of The People, the military must be required to give you that respect. The change is inevitable, but likely distant still. In the meantime, I (we), are doing all we can to help make things better.

And believe this: there is nothing wrong or strange about who you are. It is them that is fucked up. You’re just caught in a bit of a stupid trap. But the world is always much, much wider, as I’m sure you must have seen for yourself from time to time.

You should have as much respect from the military as you give to it. I could make a stupid example and say, why would you want to stay with someone who doesn’t respect you?

But maybe they will some day. It will take people like you to make that happen.

All kinds of battles, eh?