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Twenty-three-year-old Navy vet Joseph Christopher Rocha, who served in the Middle East, says rumors about him being gay led to humiliation and abuse, from being duct-taped and locked in a dog kennel to being forced to simulate oral sex with other men — where he was then criticized for not doing it well enough. The whole scene was videotaped, he tells YouthRadio. Three years after a Navy investigation into the conduct of other soldiers, Rocha was informed all charges would be dropped.

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell doesn’t just force honorable gay men and women from hiding their sexuality — it creates an environment of tolerated harassment and torture of our servicemembers.

In a statement to the Navy about what happened, Rocha acknowledged he is gay. He was discharged. The men who assaulted him continue to serve our country.

(Photos: Facebook)