I had also been previously introduced to Tim Carter, the co-chair of the organization. I had recently written this one piece which suggested that Don’t ask, don’t tell should be repealed.
I was an active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, just north of San Diego, and had been writing op-ed pieces for the Navy Times. Since southern California has a heavy concentration of military personnel, Jennifer decided to conduct some interviews in San Diego. Jennifer asked SLDN for assistance in locating military people who would be willing to talk about their experiences.
In researching the story Jennifer contacted the Service Members Legal Defense Network (SLDN), an organization out of Washington which provides free legal services for anyone in the military facing an investigation, charges, or any problem with the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy. That’s how we all felt and that’s what I hoped the story would convey. Yet we were not completely part of the gay community either, because we were in the military. The article would reveal how we were not necessarily a part of the military community because we were gay-there was always that distinction. About how we felt trapped in this kind of no man’s land. The New York Times Magazine had assigned a young, freelance writer named Jennifer Egan to write about what day-to-day life was like for those of us in the military living under the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy. I thought it was going to be a story about my friends, about this group of guys and how we all stuck together, and how we always tried to be there for each other. I didn’t expect the article to be a story about me. What it felt like to be the most notorious marine in the world and what it took to come through the fireīy turns harrowing and heartbreaking, angry and affirming, Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star is that rarest of memoirs-a fascinating slice of life that reads like the most absorbing fiction, but is all true.Why he chose not to reveal his porn past to the New York Times journalist.A real insider’s experience of working in the male porn industry-the good, the bad, and the extremely hot.The harsh realities of military life under the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” Clinton policy.What it’s really like growing up behind the “Fortress of Fundamentalism” and how he ultimately came to despise their views.
Along the way, Rich Merritt writes with humor, compassion, insight and naked truth about: And above all, it’s a triumphant story of self-forgiveness and identity, of a man who refused to allow himself to be defined by the standards of anyone else-gay or straight. It’s the compelling, poignant story of how a boy who never listened to pop music, never cursed, and didn’t have his first drink until he was eighteen exploded into a life of drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, prostitution, and pornography. Here’s the story of Rich Merritt-the good son, teacher’s pet, Southern gentleman, model Christian student at Bob Jones University, Marine officer, and the not-so-anonymous poster boy for a New York Times Magazine article on gays in the military-whose complicated sexual past caused an international scandal when The Advocate “outed” him as “The Marine Who Did Gay Porn,” putting his life in a tailspin. YES, IT ALL REALLY HAPPENED JUST LIKE THIS…