The Clackamas print., October 17, 2018, Page 6, Image 6

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& C U LTU R E
LGBTQ+ military film breaks silence on campus
“ DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” DOCUMENTARY TELLS HISTORY OF LGBTQ+ SERVICE MEMBERS
PHOTO AND STORY BY SHAWN TAPLEY
■S taff writer
On Tuesday, Oct. 9, “ Breaking the Silence: A n Oral History
o f Oregon’ s LGBTQ Veterans and Service M em bers,” a
documentary that tells o f how, the m ilitary has changed
since the “ D on’t A sk, Don’t Tell” laws were repealed in
2010, was shown in the McLoughlin Theatre on Glackamas
Com m unity College’s Oregon City campus.
Until 1993, the military did not allow gay people to openly
serve. During President Bill Clinton’s administration, the
“ D on ’t A sk, D on’t Tell” policy was enacted. The policy
allowed gay veterans to serve so lon g as th ey didn ’ t
“It is, to our knowledge,
the very first full-length
documentary that gives
voice to LGBTQ veterans
and service members.”
-Nathaniel Boehme
disclose their sexual orientation.
: “ Breaking the Silence” is a 54-minute long documentary
about ’the brave m en and w om en who fought for our
country w hile harboring a secret that could have gotten
them kicked out o f military.
Five current or former LGBTQ+ service m embers were
interviewed in the film about theirexperiences of being
in the m ilitary during — and in one case after — “ Don’t
A sk, Don’t T ell.” They spoke about how their lives have
changed since com ing out to fam ily, friends and fellow
vets.
Casey Curry^an LGBTQ+ member, veteran o f the U .S.
Arm y, and C C C ’s Vet Outreach and Retention Specialist.
She believes that w ith the repeal the military changed
for the better.
“ As a gay veteran who served prior to and during ‘Don’t
A sk, Don’t Tell,’ when I heard that there was.a group out
there fighting to get it repealed, I was all for it, b u t! had
a lot of concerns.
“ Since it’ s been repealed, other th a n the back and
forth w ith the current adm inistration,” she said, “ it’s
been really good. It’ s been really positive. ”
N ath an iel B oehm e, LGBTQ+ Veterans Coordinator
for the Oregon Department of Veterans A ffairs, was in
attendance for the screening and expressed great joy
towards the film and its powerful message.
“ This piece is a labor of love” said Boehme. “ It is, to
our knowledge, the very first fu ll-len gth documentary
that gives voice to LGBTQ+ veterans and service members
to allow them the space to tell their stories in this way. ”
Sergeant Landon Shim ek, who was one o f the soldiers
interviewed in the documentary, mentioned that being gay
and in the m ilitaryw as so difficult that LGBTQ+ soldiers
had to speak in code, u sing “ pineapple” for lesbian,
“ strawberry” for gay, “ boysenberry” as transgender and
“ marionberry” for questioning.
Curry said that she wanted to bring the documentafy
to campus because she felt that CC.C had the welcoming
and inclusive energy that this film needed in order to
reach a wide audience. >
“ This is a m agnificent ca m p u s,” Curry said. “ It’ s
very inclusive. I thought this would be a great place to
show th is .”
Curry also recognizes the impact this film will have on
those enduring sexual discrimination.
“ This is the story and the struggle they went through
to just to serve in the m ilitary,” Curry said. “ I think it’ s
a really excellent education piece for other people who
maybe m ight not understand what the struggles were
like trying to serve and trying to keep who you are very
closeted.”
Curry said there is work to be done.
“ There are-still issues w ith LGBTQ+ veterans,” she
said. “ There are still issues with women who are being
sexually assaulted. There are still issues of veterans of
other cultureswho are being treated unfairly - Muslims,
Hispanics. But the more that we practice inclusion then
less of that (there will be.)”
Visit bts.oregondva.com to watch
the full documentary.
Casey Curry, a U.S. Army veteran and Vet Outreach and Retention Specialist at Clackamas Community College introduces the documentary “Breaking the Silence”
to the audience at the McLoughlin Auditorium on Tuesday, Oct. 9. “Breaking the Silence” focuses on the experience of LGBTQ+ veterans and service members.
Clackamas hint
theclackam asprint.com
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