Lived experiences of sexual orientation discrimination of gay male service members

Abstract: The repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy (DADT) has been an area of study among scholars since 2011. Researchers have demonstrated that discrimination based on sexual orientation is still occurring in the armed forces. However, researchers have not studied the lived experiences of active-duty male service members in the army who selfidentified as gay. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of discrimination based on the sexual orientation of male service members who self-identified as gay in the army since the repeal of the DADT policy. Using semi-structured interviews, four self-identified gay male service members from various army installations shared their lived experiences of discrimination based on their sexual orientation. The theories of Goffman’s social stigma theory and Meyer’s minority stress model was theoretically used to frame this study, while Moustakas's phenomenological qualitative research methods were used to analyze the interviews. The experiences of the male service members are expressed throughout four themes: the lived experiences of active-duty male service members who self-identify as gay, discrimination based on sexual orientation, the mental cognition of active-duty male service members who have experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation, and army-wide educational programs on sexual orientation. The social change implications of the armed forces' leadership may benefit from this study's results by implementing sexual orientation programs in its annual mandatory training modules.