a few days after having passed my qualifying interview for the masters program, i got a call. this call would be the start of a series of events that eventually became the defining moment of my service, one that shook me to my core and transformed my perception of the organisation that i had held so dear and had committed my life to.
it was one afternoon in apr 2005. i was at my desk settling some matters pertaining to some routine dk matters when the phone rang. a lady's voice came on. she sounded nice enough. hello, can i speak with (my rank & name)? i affirmed i was the person she was looking for... oh hi sir, i am (so and so) from the security department. can you come down to the department's office for an interview on (date & time)? at that very moment, i knew it was my turn. feigning ignorance (or rather, hoping against reality that it was not), i asked, what is this interview for? erm, oh, it's nothing, it's only a routine interview she replied. "routine" she said? my foot! no interviews by that department could ever be "routine". i had heard of people getting called up for "routine" interviews and i knew they were anything but "routine"... my heart pounded. we firmed up the interview date and i hung up.
once i hung up, i contacted d (who had been "interviewed" before) and told him about it. they called me, i said. he immediately knew what i meant. finally. yes, finally, it was my turn. i felt very uneasy. resigned. yet in a strange way, i bore hope that it would be a "routine" interview. on the other hand, since d's interview, i had psyched myself up for it. i had told myself that when my turn came, i would be honest about my sexuality. nothing beats being honest, i told myself. by then, it was clear to me that there was a systematic hunt going on for gay military persons. i knew my turn would come sooner or later.
read on the "interview" aka interogation....
pix from http://pinayabroad.wordpress.com/
it was one afternoon in apr 2005. i was at my desk settling some matters pertaining to some routine dk matters when the phone rang. a lady's voice came on. she sounded nice enough. hello, can i speak with (my rank & name)? i affirmed i was the person she was looking for... oh hi sir, i am (so and so) from the security department. can you come down to the department's office for an interview on (date & time)? at that very moment, i knew it was my turn. feigning ignorance (or rather, hoping against reality that it was not), i asked, what is this interview for? erm, oh, it's nothing, it's only a routine interview she replied. "routine" she said? my foot! no interviews by that department could ever be "routine". i had heard of people getting called up for "routine" interviews and i knew they were anything but "routine"... my heart pounded. we firmed up the interview date and i hung up.
once i hung up, i contacted d (who had been "interviewed" before) and told him about it. they called me, i said. he immediately knew what i meant. finally. yes, finally, it was my turn. i felt very uneasy. resigned. yet in a strange way, i bore hope that it would be a "routine" interview. on the other hand, since d's interview, i had psyched myself up for it. i had told myself that when my turn came, i would be honest about my sexuality. nothing beats being honest, i told myself. by then, it was clear to me that there was a systematic hunt going on for gay military persons. i knew my turn would come sooner or later.
read on the "interview" aka interogation....
pix from http://pinayabroad.wordpress.com/
4 comments:
Hi, just wondering what treatment my son would get during NS as he said he was going to be honest about his sexual orientation. :|
Our home renov will start 1 Nov. As it is I am feeling the stress. Besides the stress of packing and clearing the house, I also have to manage the expectations of my hb.
We have decided on our carpenter and renov contractor. The carpenter is my dad's long-time patient. Both the carpenter and SD (Sales designer) are friends and have worked together on projects for many years. I thought there would be less problems when it comes to getting the renov done since they can work well together. However the problem now lies with my hb. Another ID had quoted him a best price slashing about $5K off the original quote while our contractor could only manage about $1K. The difference in quote is about $4K and he wasn't very happy about it. Sometimes I wonder if I should just leave the decision to him to save all the disagreements and negativities, although I find the huge discount given by the ID a little fishy. I am sure he has to find ways and means to make up for the $4K...maybe get less skilful workers, inferior materials etc or maybe there might be hidden costs...
Maybe I should let my hb know I would help with the renov costs so he won't be so stressed.
Cheers :)
hey, not to worry. for your son, if he chooses to come out about his sexuality before enlistment, he would likely be assigned to a non-stay in, non-combatant role. that is usually the guideline. however, i also have known of instances where they assign people who choose to come out to combat units, esp those who are physically fit. but i do wanna caution here that you need to be clear about what is the stand of the organisation vs what is the treatment he might get from his peers due to factors such as individual stereotyping and/ or prejudices.
often, i see the organisation being neutral or leaning towards empathy for gay nsf servicemen but still gay nsfs do get discriminatory responses from their own peers.
what i have written here in my blog is a reflection of how they treat gay regulars. so, please do not take this to be the same way they would treat nsfs.
sounds like a horror story!
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