Jeff Petrie is trying to organize a gay alumni chapter of the U.S. Naval Academy.
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (AP) -- While at the Naval Academy in the late '80s, Jeff Petrie thought he was the only gay midshipman at the school. Homophobia was rife, and he took pains to hide his sexual orientation.
"I kept my secret. I lived a double life in exchange for the opportunity to serve," he said.
Now, Petrie is leading an effort to establish an official gay and lesbian chapter of the school's alumni association, in what would be a first for any U.S. service academy.
The chapter's 29 members-to-be, none of whom still serve in the military, want to support gay midshipmen still bound by the Department of Defense's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Petrie said.
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