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Lesbian Who Quit West Point Weathers Anonymous Criticism, Garners Support From Home Town

08/31/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
When Katie Miller announced that she is lesbian and resigned from the US Military Academy because she could not accept the duplicity of living under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law, she gained national attention.  She even appeared, in uniform, on The Rachel Maddow Show where she told Dr. Maddow, an open lesbian herself, that the emotional, mental and social tll of hiding her sexual identity had become too much.  Miller has now moved on to Yale University as a transfer student, and that the reactions have largely been positive.

The twenty year old did run into some negativity, largely in the form of her hometown newspaper.  The 2008 graduate from Findlay High School found that there were people who were not happy about her coming out as lesbian, a fact she hid through much of her time in High School.  Miller stated “I was shocked that I didn’t receive more support than that from my hometown.  I think the Findlay area has been especially harsh on me – just really wary of what my intentions were.  These are the people I spent most of my childhood growing up with … so I was hoping that Findlay would be able to accept me as one of their own and to support me in this. But I ended up getting some of my toughest critics from my hometown, and that personally disturbed me.”

Katie Miller’s secret was known to her mother Lisa, a few close friends, and her girlfriend.  Her brother did not know until around forty minutes before her interview with Dr. Maddow.  Thomas, her twin, stated “I got a phone call about 40 minutes before she was on Rachel Maddow. That’s how I found out.”  He got the call from their mother.

While she does have her supporters, many anonymous commenters on the website of the local newspaper were biting.  This is, alas, one of the big problems in that people who are supportive tend not to comment as often as those who either want to put people down or with to criticize.  Most of the criticism attacked Miller for joining the military despite the fact that she knew that she would have to hide her sexuality.  One person known only as ‘J’ wrote “She knew what the rules were when she accepted the appointment, and now to stick the government with the tab for the first two years of college is just wrong.”

Miller is not alone in leaving West Point before she finishes her education.  She quit before she signed the commitment to finish her last two years and to serve five years in the Army.  If she had signed that and then quit, she would have had to repay the costs of her education.  In other words, it is because of the slow pace of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell that she quit, not because of the law itself.  About twenty percent of all cadets brought into West Point each year drop out before they graduate.

Sidewalk interviews with the residents of Findlay, OH regarding her were far more kind than the anonymous online comments.

Melissa Gertz stated “I know the Bible does speak against homosexuality, but it doesn’t speak against the person,.  I don’t believe you throw people out when something happens. You embrace them.”

Seventy-five year old Army veteran Bill Frack stated “She apparently is very bright. I feel bad [she is leaving West Point] because she is obviously a good cadet. I’m sure she will do well at Yale.”

Her brother, who still lives in Findlay, said “No matter what her sexual orientation is, she’s still my sister and I still love her.”

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