Tour of duty
As an openly gay marine, Jeff Key fought in Iraq only to be kicked out due to his sexuality. He says coming out is the best decision he ever made
By Paul Clinton
Excerpted from The Advocate, January 17, 2005
The journal kept by openly gay lance corporal Jeff Key, a U.S. marine who served a tour of duty in Iraq in 2003, has become the basis for a powerful one-man show, The Eyes of Babylon. In the show—running at the Tamarind Theatre in Los Angeles—Key veers from humor to tears to outrage in the blink of an eye.
At 6 foot 5, with his high and tight haircut and 220 muscular pounds, the 39-year-old is every inch a marine. His usual cockeyed grin betrays the fact that he’s being honorably discharged for coming out to his commanding officer.
Key says he felt he had no choice. Two months into his Iraq tour he was injured lifting heavy equipment and was flown back to the United States. He became more and more angry at how the war was being mismanaged and how “don’t ask, don’t tell” was continuing to harm the estimated 64,000 gay men and lesbians currently serving in the U.S. armed forces.
Some have even questioned Key about playing the “gay card” in order to get out of the military. He responds that he had crawled back into the closet after nearly 20 years of living openly only to find himself fighting a war he believes to be illegal. He says he decided to use the ban on gays in the military to avoid being asked to take innocent lives for corporate gain.
http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/930/930_marine.asp
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