Life on a seesaw
Dr. Mary Ann Humphrey, a former captain in the U.S. Army
Reserve, is one of many people to experience discrimination,
military style
—
B Y___K A M I L A
A L - N A J J A R
n January 1986, I’d been back with the
Civil Affairs Unit [a U.S. Army reserve
unttj about two months. One day, 45 minutes
before the drill was over, I was called into the
commander’s office. Sitting
in the room were three men, all lawyers in
civilian life.
“ I was never read my rights. I was asked to
sit down, and one of them said, ‘We have some
personal things to discuss with you. It’s just a
friendly meeting. Jon [Haub] is here to take
some notes. You don’t have to worry about
anything.’ [Haub is the chief prosecutor for
Oregon City.]
“ Jon proceeded to say that a former
colleague of mine had accused me of being a
practicing homosexual. If I were given to levity
1 would have said. ‘I don’t need any practice.
I’ve been doing it for years.’ But my response
on the record to them was, ‘That’s ridiculous.’
In this situation I wasn’t going to say yes and
get kicked out. I know the regulation is against
homosexuality. I’ve always been professional
and never let that enter into my military career.
My private life was my private life and it never
crossed over.
“ They proceeded to ask me very personal
and embarrassing questions: Have you slept
with a woman? No. Have you slept with a man?
Yes. When was the last time? What do you do? I
chose not to answer the questions about women
but I would answer the questions about men.
Other questions were dirty kinds of things, and I
didn’t answer those either. Before I got home
Jon Haub was on the phone to my lover asking
her the same kind of questions, to which she
answered, ‘I don’t know.’ “
Dr. Mary Ann Humphrey, who held a
position as an Equal Opportunity-Affirmative
Action Officer in her Civil Affairs Unit, is one
of the many gay people to experience discrimi­
nation, military style. Humphrey said, “ The
military thinks that a gay person is going to
affect the morale of the rest of the troops .”
“ They think all you do is stay in bed. They
think when two people are gay and in a relation­
ship, and when the couple has their family and
friends over, they just fornicate on the floor. I
think that is part of the mentality of the general
public, also,” she said.
Humphrey’s troubles began before the day
she got called into her commander’s office. A
physical education teacher since 1973 at
Portland Community College, Humphrey was
one of the teachers chosen to get cut from her
department for the 1985-86 school year due to
budget problems.
“ The chairman of the physical education
department at PCC-Sylvania had already pre­
determined that I was going to get riffed by
making a statement in an open committee meet­
ing. He said, ‘We need to riff someone in the
department and we should get rid of Mary Ann
because we don’t need that kind of sexual
orientation around here.’ ” Humphrey pointed
out that PCC cannot openly discriminate on the
I
names, places and an ex-lover with an ax to
grind. He came back to the unit several times to
make sure that his wishes were being carried
out, according to Humphrey.
After nine years of military service and a
blocked promotion to major. Captain Mary Ann
Humphrey was removed in November 1987
with an honorable discharge. She did not fight
against the military: instead, she has taken
another approach to voice her dissatisfaction
with discrimination based on sexual orientation.
For the past year Humphrey has been work­
ing on a book to be called The Lavender Corps
— The Untold Story o f the Military Gay. The
book will have personal interviews with gays
and lesbians in the armed forces • and the stories
will range from World War II to the present day,
representing almost all levels of rank and
branch.
“ I feel that what I am doing in the book is
much more productive and is going to help out a
lot more people. At least it may get the public to
be more aware of what the military does to
individuals. I am talking about total devastation
in somebody’s life. Marianne Ben-Shalom of
Wisconsin spent $200,000 and 12 years to get
reinstated to the military for a period of six to
eight months. During the span of 12 years she
lost her house, her child and her home.”
Humphrey is still seeking stories for her
manuscript Veterans from pre-World War II to
the present, all branches, all ranks, those who
have been involved in "homosexual purges,”
have been otherwise investigated for sexual
orientation or have received a less-than-
honorable discharge, as well as present active
members or those who have completed service
under honorable conditions . all are
encouraged to respond. Strict confidentiality
will be maintained. Write to Manuscript
Subject, PO Box 2370, Portland. OR 97208. •
WE MAKE IT EASIER!
FERGUSON
AUTOBODY &
basis of sexual orientation. She also said that at
the time the chairman made that statement, she
was teaching at Rock Creek, and he had no
jurisdiction over her.
“ The statement was made a year before it
happened, and then when it actually happened,
it was me and a man from Sylvania who were
riffed. After that I proceeded to justify my
position; I had more seniority and education
than any of the people below me.
“ Sol went to the president of the college and
said ‘This is a good-old-boy decision and either
something is done about the situation or I will
go elsewhere.’ That night the president of the
college was in touch with the president of the
union to figure out the problem.
“ I told the man next in line [Carl vonTagan],
‘I’m sorry, Carl. I am not the one to be riffed.
You are less in seniority than me and it’s
nothing personal but I’m going to prove that this
decision is wrong.’ Carl knew in his heart that
he should not have been held because he had
almost two and a half years less seniority
than me.”
Humphrey and vonTagan had been friends
for 13 years and had shared similar interests,
and vonTagan also knew about Humphrey’s
sexuality. Humphrey said that it was common
knowledge in her department that she is gay.
Humphrey got her job back, and vonTagan
was riffed in her place. Before the final decision
vonTagan told many of his friends that if
Humphrey got her job back, he would inform
the military.
“ He blamed me for the loss of his job when
in fact it was an administrative decision. If they
had done it correctly initially none of this would
have happened," Humphrey said.
In January 1986 vonTagan went to
Humphrey's commanding officer in the U.S.
Army Reserve with enough information to
prove she is a lesbian. He supplied them with
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