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Sgt. comes out, but is allowed to stay in

Darren Manzella was out of the closet.

The Army sergeant told an officer he was a homosexual, and the officer turned him in. During the investigation, Manzella admitted he was gay and even offered visual confirmation: a home videotape showing him kissing his civilian boyfriend.

Needless to say, Manzella was surprised with his commanding officer’s verdict:

“They found no evidence of homosexuality,” he said.

Manzella took that as evidence, he said, that “they were trying to retain the best and most qualified soldiers. And I’m hoping to see a growth in that pattern among commands throughout the Army and the military branches.”

Manzella, 30, is assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Cavalry Division, and works in the Division Surgeon section. He just completed his second deployment to the Middle East. During the first, he served in the Iraq war zone and earned the Combat Medical Badge; more recently, he spent the better part of 15 months as a medical liaison at a Navy hospital in Kuwait.

He’s spent the past two years serving as an openly gay soldier, hiding nothing from his fellow troops. His story aired nationally Dec. 16 on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” making Manzella easily the most out-in-the-open gay service member in the entire military.

Three weeks later, it still hasn’t mattered. “No reaction from my command,” he said in a Jan. 8 interview at the Washington offices of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a national advocate for gay service members, which says it knows of about 500 gay troops who are serving openly.

“I’ve had an outpouring of support from my family, from my peers, my colleagues — military people,” Manzella said. And if his command’s support holds, Manzella won’t join the nearly 12,000 service members who have been booted out of the service under the 1994 “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that allows gay troops to serve only if they keep silent about their sexual orientation.

Driven by what gay rights advocates say are the increasing manpower pressures of fighting two wars, discharges under the law have fallen to nearly half of the 2001 peak of 1,273, despite service assertions that nothing has changed.

“The Army enforces the law and averages about 300 discharges per year from fiscal years 1993 to 2006,” said Army spokesman Paul Boyce.

Manzella said he knew he was gay while still a young boy but accepted it only a few years ago. He “came out” at age 28. To his knowledge, no one in his unit knew.

“I was there. I did my job. I was very good at it,” he said.

But Manzella came to realize how boxed in he had come to feel. “That fear turns into lying,” he said. “And that’s the main reason why I wanted to take a stand and speak out for all these people that do have to lie about their life.”

After he re-upped for six years, Manzella and his unit returned from the war to Texas. Buoyed by his strong performance in the war zone, Manzella said he became more comfortable with himself and more open about his sexual orientation.

Then it got weird. Manzella started receiving anonymous phone calls at work and e-mails from outside the dot.mil domain suggesting that he was being watched and investigated. They started out with a friendly tone but turned sinister and derogatory.

In early summer, Manzella, feeling paranoid, called SLDN to seek legal guidance regarding the harassment. He was told he could either ignore it or take it to his command and risk being kicked out of the Army.

Manzella went to his supervisor, a lieutenant, and told him the whole story. “Go home,” the lieutenant said. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He then went down to the commander’s legal office and reported that Manzella had admitted he was gay.

In short order, Manzella was standing before his battalion commander. An investigation ensued. He answered questions honestly and admitted what he had told his lieutenant. He also handed over the videotape.

“I was looking for help,” he said. “I really was at the end of the line — I didn’t know where to go. So I just wanted to say ... this is me.”

About three weeks later, his commander called him back in. “I didn’t expect to be told I wasn’t gay, and to go back to work,” Manzella said, “but that’s what they did. I went back to work. And I deployed with my unit, later on in the year.”

It was a liberating moment. “I didn’t feel silenced anymore,” he said. “It was a huge relief for me to not have to live that closeted lifestyle. And I think that’s one reason why I’m speaking now. It’s because I know the relief.”

Manzella remains on leave; he’s due back at Fort Hood on Jan. 24. New challenges could await. While he serves under the same battalion commander, he has preliminary orders to transfer in May to Fort Drum, N.Y.

Meanwhile, Big Army plays down the whole issue.

“This particular soldier’s unit only recently returned from the war to Fort Hood,” Boyce said. “So it’s premature to speculate on any future actions until the young man’s situation can be considered by his chain of command.”

DISCUSS: Evidence of a change within the military?