Love and acceptance isn't a one-way street. LGBTQ people made me feel valued and accepted.
I was a shy, awkward, straight, cisgender kid serving as a tanker in the U.S. Army at the height of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' madness. While I fell firmly on the side of LGBTQ people being able to serve openly in the military, I was all alone on that one with my fellow soldiers. When the subject came up, their retort was always "How would you like to have to shower next to one of them?"
Long story short: My appreciation for "The Rocky Horror Picture Show' introduced me to the LGBTQ community in Louisville, Kentucky, not far from my post at Fort Knox. My new friends seemed a little bowled over that there were any LGBTQ-friendly people in the Army. But they accepted me into their community, and I felt a lot more valued and appreciated with them than I ever did in that den of toxic masculinity at Knox. I think I was their pet gay-friendly soldier, and I'm still in touch with many of them to this day.
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