Today I was reading about CNN’s Anderson Cooper coming out and had to admit it didn’t change my opinion of the guy.  He still has had one of the best shows on cable news. I’ve worked with his production team on a few stories, including SEAL snipers, and they’re top notch. Anderson’s got more balls than a lot of straight men I know and I have to respect him coming out publicly with this.

The First Gays In Special Operations

A while back I wrote a piece on the first female Navy SEAL , and it seemed to spark some healthy debate, which is what I intended.  So I figured, what the hell, let’s talk about the gays in Special Operations, and relate my own experience to it.

Some of you who don’t know any better are shaking your heads in disbelief and anger at the thought of it I’m sure.  Best get over it as I suspect there are quite a few gay men that make it into Special Operations units.  Most, I assume, are there to serve their country and to try and stomp out the fire that burns inside every Spec Ops candidate.  It’s a fire that only men who have passed Special Operation selection will ever know about, even the gay ones.

We have a lot of crazy Shit Navy SEALs Say, and one saying was, “this deployment would be a lot funner if we were all gay…”. We were joking of course but, I’ve had my own suspicions about at least one member of the SEAL community who I served with in the last five years as a Navy SEAL.

Me and a few guys nicked named him the “Ambiguously Gay SEAL“, and we tried on several occasions to get it out of him but always came up dry.  “Just tell us man! We don’t give a shit but just gotta know for shits sake!“, is we would say to him. He wasn’t giving up the goods, and I think he knew we were sincere but also knew that others would not be so understanding.

In all honesty I personally wouldn’t have given a shit, the guy was squared away and I would have deployed with him regardless of which side he was playing for.

I don’t care what color your skin is, if you’re a woman or what your sexual orientation is.  What I DO care about is that you can do your job and do it damn well. At the end of the day that’s all that matters.