Film documents gay life at Naval Academy

By EARL KELLY, Staff Writer

Published 01/27/09

A movie trailer is making the rounds promoting a new documentary film about the lives of gay and lesbian Naval Academy midshipmen and graduates.

Photo courtesy of USNA Out Linda Postenrider, a math major who graduated from the Naval Academy in 1982, is one of about 70 homosexual, gay and bisexual academy alumni to be featured in the new film “Out of Annapolis.”

The documentary is being made by gay academy alumni, many of whom are members of the group USNA Out. Work began on the film "Out of Annapolis" in late October, and is expected to be completed in time for this summer's film festivals.

The message behind "Out of Annapolis" is that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender academy students and graduates admire the academy and the military, and want to serve their country. But federal law and the "don't ask,...

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gays in the military - 2009-01-30 19:59:38

Every single NATO country except Turkey, an Islamic nation, allows gays to serve openly in the military, except for our nation. We will never know how many Americans died in the Iraq war because a significant number of our Arabic Translators were dumped from our military for being gay. </p>
And I've talked with a number of gay military people, who are "out" to their comrades. To a man and woman, they said either no one cared, or their comrades were actually glad that these gay people were serving. Their unit commanders cared only that they do their job, for everyone depends on everyone else in order to survive. Only at the upper levels of the Pentagon do we find old prejudices still poisoning minds.
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Ms Donnelly is simply living in the past, tied to old traditional and irrational 'values', often biblical. These gay military people are willing to lay down their life if necessary for their country. They deserve to be allowed to serve, and the nation needs them in the war on terrorism. The issue is just a red herring for religious based prejudice. which poisons parts of our society, of which Ms Donnelly is an example.

And lets realize that Ms Donnelly would like to throw gays out of everything. Make them non-persons, less then human in the eyes of the populace. Then, anything goes, and we?ve seen enough of that in this country, haven?t we ? for Blacks, Jews, and other minority groups.

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S. Kay - Severna Park, MD - Karma: Bad

Not about a chapter - 2009-01-27 16:20:22

This film is about sharing the stories of USNA alumni who have outstanding accomplishments and are proud to be USNA Alumni (as painful as it may have been for some). It is not about getting a gay chapter with the USNA Alumni Association and I'm sorry to see this story tie the 2 issues together. I am one of many members of USNA Out who is not in favor of pursuing a USNA Out Chapter. I'd rather see the Alumni Association establish a non-discrimination clause and/or establish affinity groups through which slices of alumni, including the LGBT community, could connect. BZ to Steve Hall! - Linda Postenrieder '82

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Linda Postenrieder - Petaluma, CA - Karma: Bad