Don't Ask, Do Tell: When I Finally Told the Military "Kiss My Gay..." by William Bonzo stands as an edgy and brutally honest assessment of the Don't Ask/Don't Tell position previously set forth by the United States military. The policy was established to allow gay men and lesbians to remain in uniform...as long as their sexual orientation remained a secret...but served as a platform for forced deception and occasional blackmail. In the author's case, he served his country with pride and determination, until he was “outed” and forced to either deny the accusation or leave the Navy. From a guided missile cruiser in the North Atlantic to life lived among nerve gas, enemies, and the struggle to survive, nothing seems as daunting as the courage this author mustered to maintain his dignity and military pride through a terrible ordeal.
What is at the heart of this book? The message that every man and woman deserves to serve; that this country cannot afford to force patriotic and talented individuals from their ranks due to sexual orientation; and that, despite political wrangling and election-year promises, this issue goes beyond gender: it is about human dignity.
I wrote Don't Ask, Do Tell: When I Finally Told the Military "Kiss My Gay..." after I was outed as a gay man and discharged from the Navy. Had I served my country honorably and patriotically? Absolutely. Is our military in need of talented and well-trained men and women to lead the troops during wartime? Without question. And yet this policy of Don't Ask/Don't Tell systematically forced men and women to either lie about their identities...or be forced out of the service.
In this moving, informative, often hilarious memoir, you'll learn the emotions of serving our country in uniform during times of peace, and times of war while hiding from a greater enemy - intolerence. I served my country with pride and dedication, until the day I was outed for being homosexual. Today, as an ex-Navy man, I stand up for the rights of all gay men and lesbians in the United States military.
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William Bonzo's biting, informative, and sometimes riotous memoir, Don't Ask, Do Tell: When I Finally Told the Military "Kiss My Gay..." aims directly at the Don't Ask/Don't Tell policy previously enforced by the United States military. Bonzo was a Navy man before being outed and forced to leave the service. Until then, he had served his country honorably and enthusiastically. So how can a military that is dangerously short of personnel and engaged in several wars around the world afford to impose a weeding-out policy that not only de-militarizes talented leaders, but does so in an abrupt and emotionally brutal fashion? Reading this book, one is struck by the irony of training a man for years, bringing him to his peak of military knowledge and direction, and then dismissing him for his sexual orientation.
Despite a light and often funny voice, the underlying message remains: Don't Ask/Don't Tell was unethical, pragmatically absurd, and often devastating to those who were targeted.
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I Told You SO!
The Sequined Sequel to
Don't Ask, Do Tell!
Published by
Menehunebooks.com
with poems by Werlu Angeles
Coming 2012
Twice as long,
twice as fun!
WARNING: Reading the sequel at a public library may result in expulsion due to spontaneous and unstoppable laughter.
©2010 Don't Ask, Do Tell!
