Queerty Interviews Kyle Lawson

Posted on | January 12, 2006

Queerty posted an interview with Kyle Lawson, a former private in the US Army who was forced to quit because he came out and was attacked. Lawson, like Barry Winchell before him, was immediately made a poster child for efforts to combat homophobia in the US Military and abolishing the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy that bars gays from openly serving in the armed forces. Winchell was an army private who was bludgeoned to death while he slept because he was perceived to be gay for dating a pre-op transsexual.

One thing I am very happy about in this article is that it addresses the claim that Lawson was making a pass at his attacker. Lawson denies the claim and calls that "defense" for what it is… bullshit. I recently railed one of the writers over that The Gay Patriot for bringing up the claim and mentioning Lawson’s supposed advances which implied his being assaulted was his fault.

I will refrain from getting into how the military shoots itself in the foot by not protecting Lawson who would have probably become one of their greater assetts due to his wanting to learn Arabic. I guess the army does not think it really needs as many Arabic speakers as they can get.

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One Response to “Queerty Interviews Kyle Lawson”

Queer Activist
March 7th, 2006 @ 6:51 pm

Tue - March 7, 2006

PVT. KYLE LAWSON - GAY ACTIVIST OR CONFUSED MASOCHIST?

03/07/06

It hurts to get your hopes up. To search for a hero and to think that you found one, only to discover that the legend was merely pumped up celebrity gossip and that the so called hero is simply a very young, accidental participant on the stage of activism. Not the true independent thinker/ freedom fighter/ truth seeker that the world needs them to be.

Iâ€™m speaking of Kyle Lawson, 19 years old and forced from the military because someone asked and he told. On the surface, what Kyle appears to be doing seems quite admirable. Absolutely! To stand up and put his private life out on display for the globe to see, to be brave enough to share his story and accept the possible consequences of losing friends and family. Obviously, this is not an easy thing to do, otherwise thousands of gay and lesbian soldiers would be rushing from their closets as I type.

The problem is that Kyle is living breathing proof of the lasting effects of religious and military brainwashing. From the beginning of his talk at WingSpan LGBT Community Center in Tucson AZ, Pvt. Lawson heaped praise upon the military industrial complex. He said he loved putting on that costume, I mean Uniform and raising his (phallic) M16 to blow things up. But it wasn’t all fun, he was found out, beat up, scolded, moved around, harassed, threatened and finally tricked by a military lawyer into signing papers which would inevitably lead to his undoing and discharge from the armed services. He spoke of going home to the people he had grown up with, his best friend who disowned him and the pastor who had been like a father figure during his years of youth ministry that kicked him out of the church upon learning Kyle was gay.

Heartbreaking events to be sure, But really, to be surprised that in an institution that breeds killers like cattle, that a few “bad apples” would drop down to harass you, break your nose and threaten you with a knife is beyond me. Those “bad apples” are just the face, or representative of an entire industry that teaches violence as a means of conflict resolution and a government that openly legislates oppression and bigotry. To be shocked that a gay man would be thrown out of the Baptist church? The Baptist church has been throwing faggots in the fire for centuries. How Kyle could support either of these institutions after what he has been thru is what is most mind-boggling. Its almost as if he missed the entire point of his own story.

During the question and answer period I brought up my concerns with Kyle in front of the crowd. I could not just sit there while everyone in the room stroked his ego and cooed at his response of yes to the question of whether he would or would not rejoin if the Donâ€™t ask, Donâ€™t Tell Policy was lifted. So I asked him how after being kicked out of the military and the church he could continue to support these institutions? I asked him if he supported the war and the killing of innocent civilians in Iraq? Because that was the message I was getting. His response was one of stuttering military talking points. “Spreading freedom and democracy around the world.” And that he wouldnâ€™t even be sitting in that chair sharing his story if it wasnâ€™t for the military, because in some countries they execute gay people simply for existing. I guess Kyle has never taken time to explore the origins of AIDS in America and the fact that people right here in our “free” country are dying because they can not afford health care while 60% of our tax revenue goes towards the bloated military budget.

A second man spoke up and admittedly agreed with me continuing the questioning with where is your anger? Kyle’s response was that he “tries to be an optimistic person and not to focus on the negative stuff in life.” I canâ€™t help but wonder if the eye problems he spoke about somehow stem metaphysically from his denial to see the truth of his situation. That he was being groomed to be an information gatherer, which is code for interrogator, which as we’ve learned from Abu Ghraib is code for torturer.

Finally he was asked where he thought his activism would lead him in the future to which he responded that he was working on setting up a website for closeted military men to meet and clandestinely discuss their secrets.

Huh?

I would like to encourage him instead, to take a different route, to use his newfound celebrity status to motivate gays and lesbians to drop out of this system that doesn’t support them altogether. The church and the military! Until we are accepted as equals and able to influence how decisions are made that affects us all, neither institution is deserving of our presence. As long as we continue to support the elitist agenda, either as a willing participant or an apathetic onlooker, we will never have peace, justice, acceptance or equality.

This is not meant to be an attack on Kyle; he is still a young man with a hopefully bright future ahead of him. But there were hopes that he would be more like the Aidan Delgado of the gay community speaking truth to power and working to end this violent repetition rather than support it. If you do not know, Aidan Delgado is a conscientious objector who has returned from Iraq with a mission of countering military recruiters and graphically teaching kids the truth about what it means to sign your life away to the military.

You can watch an interview with Aidan Delgado here http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7508.htm

I had hoped that as a conscientious and faithful person Kyle, like Aidan would be willing to walk the narrowest path and actively work to bring about real change. After all Kyle, whom would Jesus bomb?

I hope these words will motivate you Pvt. Lawson, to rethink your position on what you call a “grey area” and to reassess your life’s mission now that you are a civilian and able to navigate your own course. I had such high hopes for you and would have been willing to help spread your message however possible. But after hearing that message I realized that you are either knowingly or unknowingly perpetuating and encouraging the violent cycles of hatred brought upon gays around the world. By supporting and accepting that to be a successful gay man in todayâ€™s society you must fall in lock step with those that oppress you, “Squared away” as you march in single file to your doom.

I cannot be a part of that.

Don’t Ask! Don’t Tell!! Don’t Join!!!