Jen Hogg’s New York Army National Guard unit was called up shortly after 9/11. While straight soldiers kissed loved ones goodbye, she says, “I couldn’t. I could only sneak a quick hug with my partner.” No one asked, Hogg didn’t tell, and in 2005, she received an honorable discharge as a sergeant. Jo Ann Santangelo photographed Hogg (left) and her partner Jackie Scalone for Proud to Serve, a book about gays and lesbians in uniform in the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell era.
For more up-to-the-minute DADT-repeal motivation,
read Mother Jones‘ “Military Equality, Chapter II.“
This photo appears in the January/February 2010 issue of Mother Jones.