KeatingOrRoark

More. Now the challenge is to see how uncomfortable we can make each other.

My experience before repeal was one of constant fear, doubt and growing resentment. I was an angry person. I was expected to die for my country, and couldn't celebrate coming home openly with my family? It was infuriating. And scary. Always watching my back to see if some Marines followed me to the bar. Always saying things to myself before saying them aloud to make sure I didn't "tell". Always afraid pictures would show up. Always afraid to make friends, have fun, be human.

After, I am open, I am happy, I'm a family man, I'm a good Marine, and I'm a damn good guy to hang out with on the weekend. IMHO, of course.

Surprise: So many Marines are just so okay with it or indifferent to it. I had actually expected some blowback. I found none.

Reaffirming: Some Marines who did have a problem confronted me about it professionally and I was able to "show them the light" per se, that I was still the same Marine they had always known.

Unexpected: The Family Readiness Officer is constantly trying to get me and my husband to do more spousal training, and my Commanding Officer addresses my husband as my husband.

I can only speak for my observances with the news and my unit. My unit has been completely supportive of my family. I was even heavily encouraged to bring my husband to last year's birthday ball. I was thinking about doing it, was hesitant because the repeal had just happened, but my Marines all urged me to do it. It's been a great experience. I feel very loved and supported.

Based on my observations of the Marine Corps, I can only say that the Corps is very much just a "print screen" of America. You have many Marines who are happy about repeal, many who are indifferent and there are of course many who still think it's terrible and will destroy our Corps. To my knowledge, I haven't heard of any violent reactions to the repeal.

I can tell you that we in the recruiting command make it a point to address the issue with enlisted applicants and officer candidates before they even go to basic training, and strongly urge that our personal feelings never get in the way of our mission: winning battles and taking care of each other.

I try to see my husband at least once a quarter. We won't be together before my EAS (End of active service), but after that, I will be living with him permanently.

Thanks for the questions!

One of my bosses took me into his office and explained that he was fervently against repeal. But since he met me and my husband, he's come to realize that repeal is a great thing, because it's bringing families together and encouraging Marines to have something to fight for.

Love this story.

I first met him while cleaning the outside of the barracks. He was a corporal at the time, and I was a lance corporal. I can still hear the first words he ever said to me:

"Hey, Lance Cpl, pick up that trash and move faster." Poetry really.

I didn't know he was gay, though. Turns out, we shared a mutual friend who told me he was gay. He didn't really mean to. He just kind of said it while I was complaining.

"That corporal's a dick," I said. "Yeah. He's gay, though, so..."

So, we arranged a meeting to watch movies in my friend's room. My husband was shy at the time, and hated hanging out with people, so I had to coax him up. He said he didn't have time because he had to roll his sleeves, so i said I'd do it for him. What does he do when he first sees me? He throws his blouse at me without even saying "hi". Seriously, such a dick.

Then, at the end of the night, I told my friend to eat the rest of the cookies I had brought. He didn't want to, so we fought about it, and my husband walks up and takes the cookies and then leaves. SUCH AN ASS! lol.

so, the first time we hung out wasn't that great. But my friend thought we had chemistry, so he arranged a date night. we went to Buca di Beppo's, where I showed off my dickish side by yelling at him for putting the red-sauce spoon in the white sauce. It's a serious pet peeve of mine. Then we went to the gay bar.

I noticed he was hating it, so I, drunkenly and thinking with my groin, invited him out to his car to get away from the noise and talk. I just wanted to get with him, but we ended up talking to each other for 4 hours, waiting for our mutual friend to finish his fun and drive him home.

We talked about everything, and I fell for him. He wasn't truly a dick. He just put up a tough front because, well, DADT kept us from being who we truly were. We had to act.

Anyway, the next day he took me to Chipotle and we hit it off. Best day of my life.

We haven't had a wedding yet. We've just joined our bank accounts, and got powers of attorney for each other. We may as well be married. We do plan on having a ceremony sometime down the road, but we are inclined to wait for federal recognition.

It's very difficult. But we have skype. We have video games. We have date nights through World of Warcraft. lol. we also spend our leave visiting each other. So, we're keeping it together. We've lasted two years apart, and just have one more to go.