End of 'don't ask, don't tell' means new era for Texas A&M cadets

[Gerald]

For generations, any evidence that a member of the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University was gay while they were in military training was grounds for dismissal.

Judge Phyllis Frye, who earlier this year became the first transgender municipal judge in Texas history, recalls that an atmosphere of intolerance prevailed in the Corps before she graduated in 1970.

At the same time, she credits the Corps with preparing her for people’s reaction when she decided to transition to female in 1976.

“I went through terrible discrimination,” Frye said. “My first two years in the Corps at A&M had steeled me to survive that.”

But Frye and others say that attitudes on campus toward the LGBT community are changing.

By the time Noel Freeman joined the Corps in 2000, transferring in from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Texas A&M had been taken to task for discriminating against gays. Students had sued the university in 1976 for refusing to recognize a gay student group and won the case on appeal in 1985, setting a nationwide precedent.

When Freeman arrived on campus, he decided it was time to come out. After he told the Corps commandant, he was forced to leave the Air Force ROTC, but was allowed to remain in the Corps as the first openly gay cadet.

Freeman recalls how tough it was to tell his unit.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nati...am-cadets.html


Note: November 25, 2011