In the past several weeks, we’ve seen an uptick in support for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) repeal.

Giving a voice to the many brave men and women, we salute San Diego’s own Petty Officer Joseph Christopher Rocha, the gay Navy vet (and contributor to GLTNewsNow.com), who’s horror story of abuse at the hands of comrades in the Middle East has recently made news across the country.

Rocha came forward speaking out against the hazing rituals facing so many gay and lesbian servicemembers who serve in silence under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

From being forced to simulate oral sex to being thrown into a dog kennel, Rocha endured two years of harassment and assaults from fellow sailors – and his chief master-at-arms, Michael Toussaint, who Rocha says targeted him about six weeks into deployment, all because Rocha had no interest in having sex with the female prostitutes, of which many of the straight sailors were happy to oblige.

Eventually, Rocha, who was part of the Navy’s crew that worked with bomb-sniffing dogs in Bahrain, resigned his post by outing himself to escape. The Navy’s brief investigation into his harassment allegations ended without any charges being filed.

Rocha, however developed post-traumatic stress disorder from the abuse.

Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), news organizations retrieved some of the Navy’s own paperwork into the lax investigation, revealing the horror Rocha claims he endured. Sadly, the news media’s investigation was leaps and bounds ahead of the Navy’s own commitment to finding out the truth and holding the perpetrators accountable.

The FOIA documents listed actions including throwing hard balls at the groin, spraying down uniformed personnel with multiple hoses, and a dog attacking a sex worker on base to the point of hospitalization.

Some sailors participated in the culture of hazing as victims, others as perpetrators, or in some cases both. They say the hazing continued because of a series of threats that were also integral to the culture of the unit, which not only tolerated abuse, but also invited it. To prevent them from speaking out, sailors say Toussaint would threaten to revoke their handlers’ licenses – taking away their dogs and their specialty in the Navy.

But these were not the only cases of harassment and abuse during Rocha’s deployment.

In another incident cited in the documents, Rocha was forced to appear in a twisted “training video.”

Rocha and another junior sailor were instructed to go into a classroom by Toussaint, who asked them to simulate homosexual sex on a couch

A handler and his dog would then barge onto the scene, and that’s when “one person…would sit up, kind of wipe off their mouth, the other would get up, and they would be fixing their fly.’

Rocha says Toussaint bullied him, “telling me I needed to be more believable, act more queer, have a higher pitched voice, make the sounds and gestures more realistic…I didn’t think I had a choice…It made me feel that I wasn’t a human being, that I was an animal, rather.”

Rocha says at the time, he had no gay friends, no male lovers, and wasn’t even fully out to himself about his sexuality. Still, thousands of miles away from home, he was afraid to report the constant hazing. And Rocha was not the only one.

Throughout learning of Rocha’s story, one thing that never escaped our minds was: Yes, but weren’t there witnesses to all of this who didn’t participate? Yes, of course, but they were too afraid to speak up.

We can only imagine what type of fear and anguish our men and women in uniform face every day in the Middle East. The last thing we need is their own commanders terrorizing them.

Given the Navy’s stonewalling, we were doubtful of the chance the Pentagon higher-ups would ever address the matter. After all, what kind of torment did Toussaint endure? He was promoted during this time.

After media investigations, the Navy decided to review more than 90 allegations occurring between 2004 and 2006. The Navy also announced late last month the decision to discipline Toussaint, who has now been assigned to office work. The Secretary of the Navy also said Toussaint would receive a letter of censure and be subject to a retirement pay-grade determination, which could significantly affect his retirement pay.

This, however, is not enough.

Rocha, who is now a student at the University of San Diego, said his only regret was that Toussaint would not be court-martialed, but he said the actions would send a message that “this kind of leadership is not acceptable in our military.”

We agree.

The abuse that Rocha suffered and the treatment that he was then subjected to by the Navy, in spite of being a model officer in every other respect barring his sexuality (which he was unsure of when he enlisted, no doubt making the harassment all that much more unbearable), are prime reasons why the DADT must be repealed.

How can you help repeal DADT?

Send a message to your member of Congress letting them know that you believe in equality and encourage them to support the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (HR 1283). Urge Congress to enact a policy of non-discrimination and improve national security by allowing all talented and capable Americans to serve their country.

Let them know that this Veteran’s Day our nation’s GLBT veterans are not to be forgotten.