Rich Merritt
Encyclopedia
Richard Wayne Merritt is an author, blog
ger and attorney. Merritt is a speaker at universities, law schools and other civic organizations about topics ranging from issues on gay and lesbian equality
to fundamentalism
. He has been a controversial figure since he was featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine on June 28, 1998, which is Gay pride day
in New York City
, in an article by Jennifer Egan
entitled "Uniforms In The Closet: The Shadow Life Of A Gay Marine". He now resides in Manhattan
.
to fundamentalist Christian parents. His father and mother were of Irish
, German and Cherokee
Indian descent whose families had resided for generations in and around Piedmont, South Carolina
, in the foothills region of the Blue Ridge Mountains
. At first his family joined a Pentecostal Holiness church, but switched to an independent Baptist
Church when Merritt was six. Both denominations are part of Protestant evangelicalism
.
. He graduated from Bob Jones Academy in 1985 as president of the senior class. During his high school summers he worked in various positions at The Wilds
, a fundamentalist Christian camp. He attended Bob Jones University
for two years and in 1988 transferred to Clemson University
. Although BJU was not an accredited institution at that time, Merritt claimed in his memoirs that his BJU credits transferred to Clemson University only because the late Senator Strom Thurmond
, a prominent graduate of Clemson College (1923) was also on the board of Bob Jones University.
(the Marine Forces Reserve) and in January 1986 he shipped off to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
, South Carolina
. After completing boot camp he attended a brief occupational school at the Redstone Arsenal
in Huntsville, Alabama
. Merritt returned to Greenville where he joined his Marine Corps Reserve unit, a company of ammunition technicians. Merritt attained the rank of sergeant in May 1990 but because he was transitioning to the officer program, he did not deploy to Operation Desert Storm with the reserve unit.
Merritt drilled on weekends with his reserve unit while a student at Clemson. Concurrently with his reserve obligations, Merritt applied for and was accepted to the Marines' officer commissioning program. He attended the Platoon Leaders' Course at the Marine Corps Base Quantico
in northern Virginia
during the summers and graduated from Officer Candidate School in July 1989. At Clemson, Merritt met Gary Fullerton, a fellow student and Marine officer candidate. Both attended OCS together and remained close friends throughout their military careers and beyond for the next seventeen years.
In December 1990 Merritt was commissioned a second lieutenant and reported to active duty, returning to MCB Quantico for The Basic School. At the end of the six-month course, he was assigned the Military Occupational Specialty
of surface-to-air missile officer, specifically commanding Marines in the FIM-92 Stinger
missile field. His first position was as a platoon commander with the 1st Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion
(1st LAAD) at the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma
, on the island of Okinawa, Japan
. During his year-long tour in Okinawa Merritt deployed with his Stinger platoons to the Philippines
and South Korea
for brief stints.
Following his overseas tour Merritt was promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion
(3rd LAAD) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
, California
near San Diego. He continued assignments with Stinger missiles, planning and executing training missions in the Mojave Desert at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms
and in Arizona at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
. In 1994 he became part of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit
(15th MEU), a Marine unit that deploys aboard four-ships known as an Amphibious ready group
that was led by the USS Tripoli
. Merritt led a section of Air Control Group Marines
on a six-month deployment aboard the USS Rushmore
. The ARG participated in military and humanitarian assistance operations in Somalia
, Oman
and the United Arab Emirates
. In Somalia, the 15th MEU assisted in the withdrawal of Operation United Shield
and the United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) as a result of hostilities by General Mohamed Farrah Aidid
.
In October 1994, Saddam Hussein moved 80,000 Iraqi troops to areas near the border with Kuwait, posing an imminent threat of a renewed invasion of or attack against Kuwait. The 15th MEU and the Tripoli ARG, coincidentally training in the Persian Gulf at the time, recharted their course and entered Kuwait Harbor as the first on scene to oppose Saddam's renewed hostilities. After a two-week stalemate, the Iraqi troops stood down and the Marines departed the Gulf, returning to San Diego on schedule. Because of the period of hostilities the Marines and Sailors received combat recognition. Merritt was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his leadership during the six-month deployment.
He returned to Camp Pendleton after the deployment with the 15th MEU and rejoined 3rd LAAD Battaltion in 1995 and 1996. In June 1995 he was promoted to the rank of captain and in October he was selected for retention into the regular officer Corps. The new Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
, then-Major General Fred McCorkle, selected Merritt to be his personal aide-de-camp. Despite being a period of peacetime, 1996 and 1997 were turbulent years for the Marine aviation community in Southern California because Marine Corps Air Station El Toro
and Marine Corps Air Station Tustin
, both in Orange County
were closing as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure
Commission's decision. At the end of the year as aide, General McCorkle awarded Merritt the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
In 1997 and 1998 Merritt served as the commanding officer of Alpha Battery, a 100-man unit of Stinger missile teams and Avenger vehicle systems at MCB Camp Pendleton. In August 1998 Merritt tendered his resignation from the Marine Corps and was honorably discharged after almost thirteen years of service in the active and reserve Marine forces.
in Los Angeles and graduated with a Juris Doctorate in May 2001. He was a summer associate at the LA office of the international law firm Jones Day and became an associate after law school. He was admitted to the California Bar Association in December 2001.
In late 2003 Merritt's father was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
(ALS), a fatal disease known more commonly in the US as Lou Gehrig
's disease. The diagnosis and the nature of the illness prompted Merritt to give up his San Diego law practice in early 2004 and return to the South to be near his family in this time of crisis. He obtained employment at Powell Goldsten, an Atlanta law firm, but was fired shortly thereafter as he neglected to inform his employer at the time of his hire that he would be publishing "Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star". His father died in 2005 and a year later Merritt moved to New York where currently he works as a contract attorney in Manhattan.
, the first time he had befriended someone outside his faith. Also, Bob Jones University was notorious for its racially discriminatory rules. At boot camp, Merritt had an African-American drill instructor, the first time a black man had been in authority over him. Merritt has described boot camp as a "liberalizing experience."
When he left his initial active duty training assignments and returned to BJU, Merritt began having problems with the rules and policies of the school. A year later he withdrew while on a disciplinary status known as "spiritual probation."
, then-president of BJU, said at a White House
anti-gay protest that "homosexuals should be stoned to death as the Bible commanded." The hostile environment forced Merritt to deny to himself that he was gay. Once removed from the fundamentalist world, however, he could no longer deny his same-sex attraction.
In August 1998 Merritt received an honorable discharge from the Marines and immediately enrolled at the University of Southern California Law School
. That fall, a freelance writer named Max Harrold, approached Merritt about interviewing him for a story he planned to pitch to The Advocate
, the leading national news and interest magazine serving the lesbian and gay community. Merritt agreed and he and Harrold met with Judy Wieder, The Advocate's editor-in-chief. She agreed to publish the story in the end-of-the year double issue featuring a roundup of notable events from 1998. The cover story for the issue featured George Michael
, the singer who had just been arrested for public masturbation.
The February 16, 1999 edition of The Advocate
exposed Merritt's secret career in gay pornography in a cover story titled "The Marine Who Did Gay Porn."
In 2002 Merritt began working on his autobiography. In a cover story for A&U Magazine, Merritt described his motivations for writing the memoir, saying he wanted to set the record straight about his activities in gay porn and at Bob Jones University, but that writing the memoir was also therapeutic. Ironically, initially he worked with an editor at Alyson Publications
" to allow lesbians and gay men to serve openly in the military.
This last column caught the attention of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
, a watchdog group in Washington, DC who provided or arranged for legal aid to members of the military who needed assistance under the "Don't ask, don't tell" law.
Print
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger and attorney. Merritt is a speaker at universities, law schools and other civic organizations about topics ranging from issues on gay and lesbian equality
LGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
to fundamentalism
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the...
. He has been a controversial figure since he was featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine on June 28, 1998, which is Gay pride day
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in an article by Jennifer Egan
Jennifer Egan
Jennifer Egan is an American novelist and short story writer who lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Egan's novel A Visit From the Goon Squad won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction....
entitled "Uniforms In The Closet: The Shadow Life Of A Gay Marine". He now resides in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
Early life
Merritt was born in Greenville, South CarolinaGreenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
to fundamentalist Christian parents. His father and mother were of Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, German and Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
Indian descent whose families had resided for generations in and around Piedmont, South Carolina
Piedmont, South Carolina
Piedmont is a census-designated place along the Saluda River in Anderson and Greenville counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 4,684 at the 2000 census....
, in the foothills region of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
. At first his family joined a Pentecostal Holiness church, but switched to an independent Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church when Merritt was six. Both denominations are part of Protestant evangelicalism
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
.
Education
Merritt first attended Tabernacle Baptist Church kindergarten before his parents enrolled him at the elementary and secondary schools of Bob Jones UniversityBob Jones University
Bob Jones University is a private, for-profit, non-denominational Protestant university in Greenville, South Carolina.The university was founded in 1927 by Bob Jones, Sr. , an evangelist and contemporary of Billy Sunday...
. He graduated from Bob Jones Academy in 1985 as president of the senior class. During his high school summers he worked in various positions at The Wilds
The Wilds Christian Association
The Wilds Christian Association, Inc. is a Protestant Christian organization that operates The Wilds Christian Camp/Conference Center in Brevard, North Carolina and The Wilds of New England in Deering, New Hampshire. Its corporate office is in Taylors, South Carolina, a suburb of Greenville...
, a fundamentalist Christian camp. He attended Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University is a private, for-profit, non-denominational Protestant university in Greenville, South Carolina.The university was founded in 1927 by Bob Jones, Sr. , an evangelist and contemporary of Billy Sunday...
for two years and in 1988 transferred to Clemson University
Clemson University
Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....
. Although BJU was not an accredited institution at that time, Merritt claimed in his memoirs that his BJU credits transferred to Clemson University only because the late Senator Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
, a prominent graduate of Clemson College (1923) was also on the board of Bob Jones University.
United States Marine Corps
Soon after his eighteenth birthday, Merritt enlisted in the United States Marine CorpsUnited States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
(the Marine Forces Reserve) and in January 1986 he shipped off to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island is an military installation located within Port Royal, South Carolina, approximately south of Beaufort, the community that is typically associated with the installation. MCRD Parris Island is used for the training of enlisted Marines...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. After completing boot camp he attended a brief occupational school at the Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base and a census-designated place adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, United States and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area...
in Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
. Merritt returned to Greenville where he joined his Marine Corps Reserve unit, a company of ammunition technicians. Merritt attained the rank of sergeant in May 1990 but because he was transitioning to the officer program, he did not deploy to Operation Desert Storm with the reserve unit.
Merritt drilled on weekends with his reserve unit while a student at Clemson. Concurrently with his reserve obligations, Merritt applied for and was accepted to the Marines' officer commissioning program. He attended the Platoon Leaders' Course at the Marine Corps Base Quantico
Marine Corps Base Quantico
Marine Corps Base Quantico, sometimes abbreviated MCB Quantico, is a major United States Marine Corps training base located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly in southern Prince William County, northern Stafford County, and southeastern Fauquier County...
in northern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
during the summers and graduated from Officer Candidate School in July 1989. At Clemson, Merritt met Gary Fullerton, a fellow student and Marine officer candidate. Both attended OCS together and remained close friends throughout their military careers and beyond for the next seventeen years.
In December 1990 Merritt was commissioned a second lieutenant and reported to active duty, returning to MCB Quantico for The Basic School. At the end of the six-month course, he was assigned the Military Occupational Specialty
Military Occupational Specialty
A United States military occupation code, or a Military Occupational Specialty code , is a nine character code used in the United States Army and United States Marines to identify a specific job. In the U.S. Air Force, a system of Air Force Specialty Codes is used...
of surface-to-air missile officer, specifically commanding Marines in the FIM-92 Stinger
FIM-92 Stinger
The FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile , which can be adapted to fire from ground vehicles and helicopters , developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S...
missile field. His first position was as a platoon commander with the 1st Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion
1st Stinger Battery
1st Stinger Battery was an air defense unit of the United States Marine Corps. They were part of Marine Air Control Group 18 and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and were based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan....
(1st LAAD) at the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma or MCAS Futenma is a United States Marine Corps base located in Ginowan, northeast of Naha, on the island of Okinawa. It is home to approximately 4,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and has been a U.S. military airbase since the island was occupied...
, on the island of Okinawa, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. During his year-long tour in Okinawa Merritt deployed with his Stinger platoons to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
for brief stints.
Following his overseas tour Merritt was promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion
3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion
The 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion is an air defense unit of the United States Marine Corps. It is part of Marine Air Control Group 38 and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and is currently based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.-Mission:Provide close-in, low altitude,...
(3rd LAAD) at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and serves as its prime amphibious training base...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
near San Diego. He continued assignments with Stinger missiles, planning and executing training missions in the Mojave Desert at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms
The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center , also known as 29 Palms, is a United States Marine Corps base. It was a census-designated place officially known as Twentynine Palms Base located adjacent to the city of Twentynine Palms in southern San Bernardino County, California. As of the 2000...
and in Arizona at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station which is the home to multiple squadrons of AV-8B Harrier IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 and Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 , an air combat adversary...
. In 1994 he became part of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit
15th Marine Expeditionary Unit
The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel...
(15th MEU), a Marine unit that deploys aboard four-ships known as an Amphibious ready group
Amphibious Ready Group
An Amphibious Readiness Group of the United States Navy consists of a Navy element—a group of warships known as an amphibious task force —and a landing force of United States Marines , in total about 5,000 people. Together, these elements and supporting units are trained, organized, and equipped...
that was led by the USS Tripoli
USS Tripoli (LPH-10)
USS Tripoli , an , was laid down on 15 June 1964 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation; launched on 31 July 1965; sponsored by Mrs. Jane Cates, the wife of General Clifton B. Cates, former Commandant of the Marine Corps; and commissioned on 6 August 1966 at the...
. Merritt led a section of Air Control Group Marines
Marine Air Control Group 38
Marine Air Control Group 38 is a United States Marine Corps aviation command and control unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar that is currently composed of 5 squadrons and 1 battalion that provide the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wings tactical headquarters, positive and procedural control to...
on a six-month deployment aboard the USS Rushmore
USS Rushmore (LSD-47)
USS Rushmore is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship to be named for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota....
. The ARG participated in military and humanitarian assistance operations in Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
and the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
. In Somalia, the 15th MEU assisted in the withdrawal of Operation United Shield
Operation United Shield
Operation United Shield was the name given to a multinational military operation that was conducted from 9 January 1992 to 3 March 1995. The purpose of Operation United Shield was the safe evacuation of all United Nations peacekeeping troops from Somalia...
and the United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) as a result of hostilities by General Mohamed Farrah Aidid
Mohamed Farrah Aidid
General Mohamed Ali Farrah Aidid was a controversial Somali military leader, often described as a warlord. A former general and diplomat, he was the chairman of the United Somali Congress and later led the Somali National Alliance...
.
In October 1994, Saddam Hussein moved 80,000 Iraqi troops to areas near the border with Kuwait, posing an imminent threat of a renewed invasion of or attack against Kuwait. The 15th MEU and the Tripoli ARG, coincidentally training in the Persian Gulf at the time, recharted their course and entered Kuwait Harbor as the first on scene to oppose Saddam's renewed hostilities. After a two-week stalemate, the Iraqi troops stood down and the Marines departed the Gulf, returning to San Diego on schedule. Because of the period of hostilities the Marines and Sailors received combat recognition. Merritt was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his leadership during the six-month deployment.
He returned to Camp Pendleton after the deployment with the 15th MEU and rejoined 3rd LAAD Battaltion in 1995 and 1996. In June 1995 he was promoted to the rank of captain and in October he was selected for retention into the regular officer Corps. The new Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
The 3d Marine Aircraft Wing is the major west coast aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps. It is headquartered at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California and provides the aviation combat element for I Marine Expeditionary Force...
, then-Major General Fred McCorkle, selected Merritt to be his personal aide-de-camp. Despite being a period of peacetime, 1996 and 1997 were turbulent years for the Marine aviation community in Southern California because Marine Corps Air Station El Toro
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located near Irvine, California.Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast. Designated as a Master Jet Station, its four runways could handle the largest aircraft...
and Marine Corps Air Station Tustin
Marine Corps Air Station Tustin
Tustin Legacy is a planned community in Tustin, California being developed on the former Marine Corps Air Station Tustin. The project, under construction, will include parks, a commercial retail center and various densities of housing, for a total of 4,600 units.The City’s vision for Tustin Legacy...
, both in Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
were closing as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce...
Commission's decision. At the end of the year as aide, General McCorkle awarded Merritt the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
In 1997 and 1998 Merritt served as the commanding officer of Alpha Battery, a 100-man unit of Stinger missile teams and Avenger vehicle systems at MCB Camp Pendleton. In August 1998 Merritt tendered his resignation from the Marine Corps and was honorably discharged after almost thirteen years of service in the active and reserve Marine forces.
Law
In August 1998 Merritt enrolled at the University of Southern California Law SchoolUniversity of Southern California Law School
The University of Southern California Law School , located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California...
in Los Angeles and graduated with a Juris Doctorate in May 2001. He was a summer associate at the LA office of the international law firm Jones Day and became an associate after law school. He was admitted to the California Bar Association in December 2001.
In late 2003 Merritt's father was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
(ALS), a fatal disease known more commonly in the US as Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
's disease. The diagnosis and the nature of the illness prompted Merritt to give up his San Diego law practice in early 2004 and return to the South to be near his family in this time of crisis. He obtained employment at Powell Goldsten, an Atlanta law firm, but was fired shortly thereafter as he neglected to inform his employer at the time of his hire that he would be publishing "Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star". His father died in 2005 and a year later Merritt moved to New York where currently he works as a contract attorney in Manhattan.
Fundamentalism
According to his memoir, Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island was the first time he had any significant experience away from the fundamentalist enclave of Greenville and the BJU campus. At basic training his rackmate was CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
, the first time he had befriended someone outside his faith. Also, Bob Jones University was notorious for its racially discriminatory rules. At boot camp, Merritt had an African-American drill instructor, the first time a black man had been in authority over him. Merritt has described boot camp as a "liberalizing experience."
When he left his initial active duty training assignments and returned to BJU, Merritt began having problems with the rules and policies of the school. A year later he withdrew while on a disciplinary status known as "spiritual probation."
Sexual orientation
Merritt had not yet grappled with the issue of his homosexual orientation. In his memoirs, Merritt claimed that when he attended Bob Jones Junior High School, Bob Jones IIIBob Jones III
Robert Reynolds Jones III , third president of Bob Jones University. The son of Bob Jones, Jr., and the grandson of Bob Jones, Sr., the university's founder, Jones III served as president of BJU from 1971 to 2005.-Biography:...
, then-president of BJU, said at a White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
anti-gay protest that "homosexuals should be stoned to death as the Bible commanded." The hostile environment forced Merritt to deny to himself that he was gay. Once removed from the fundamentalist world, however, he could no longer deny his same-sex attraction.
In August 1998 Merritt received an honorable discharge from the Marines and immediately enrolled at the University of Southern California Law School
University of Southern California Law School
The University of Southern California Law School , located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California...
. That fall, a freelance writer named Max Harrold, approached Merritt about interviewing him for a story he planned to pitch to The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
, the leading national news and interest magazine serving the lesbian and gay community. Merritt agreed and he and Harrold met with Judy Wieder, The Advocate's editor-in-chief. She agreed to publish the story in the end-of-the year double issue featuring a roundup of notable events from 1998. The cover story for the issue featured George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
, the singer who had just been arrested for public masturbation.
The February 16, 1999 edition of The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
exposed Merritt's secret career in gay pornography in a cover story titled "The Marine Who Did Gay Porn."
In 2002 Merritt began working on his autobiography. In a cover story for A&U Magazine, Merritt described his motivations for writing the memoir, saying he wanted to set the record straight about his activities in gay porn and at Bob Jones University, but that writing the memoir was also therapeutic. Ironically, initially he worked with an editor at Alyson Publications
Periodicals
From 1996 until his resignation from the Marines in 1998, Merritt wrote an op-ed column for the Navy-Marine Corps Times, a Gannett-owned newspaper distributed on US military installations throughout the world. The Times had a section called "Back Talk" where one Sailor and one Marine shared their opinions on different aspects of the service. So that he could write candidly without fear of repercussion, the Times encouraged Merritt to write under a pseudonym so he chose the name "Buster Pittman," the name of his boyfriend's dog. For his columns, the Times editors allowed Merritt to use his column to advocate controversial positions such as allowing women to serve in combat, reducing the penalty for adultery from a felony conviction to a misdemeanor and repealing "Don't ask, don't tellDon't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
" to allow lesbians and gay men to serve openly in the military.
This last column caught the attention of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a non-profit legal services, watchdog, and policy organization founded in the United States in 1993. It is dedicated to ending discrimination and harassment of gay and lesbian U.S. military personnel negatively affected by the "Don't ask, don't tell"...
, a watchdog group in Washington, DC who provided or arranged for legal aid to members of the military who needed assistance under the "Don't ask, don't tell" law.
Television
- June 6, 2005, the release date for Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star, Merritt was interviewed by Jamie Guerolla for WHNS-Carolina, the Fox affiliate in Greenville, South Carolina. The focus of the interview was on Merritt's time at Bob Jones University. BJU did not participate in the story, except to say they "regretted the choices Merritt has made."
- June 10, 2006, Merritt is interviewed by Stephanie Butler on Under The Pink Carpet as part of Will Clark's porno bingo night in Manhattan.
- In January 2008, to launch the media blitz for Code of Conduct Merritt was interviewed for CBS NewsCBS NewsCBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
on Logo (TV Channel)Logo (TV channel)Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...
by Itay Hod.
Radio
June 2005, as part of his media tour for "Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star", Merritt was interviewed by Steve Pride.- Jackson, Jennifer (1999). The Unlightable Being of Bareness. San Francisco, CA: Funky Publications. ISBN 1-2345-6789-0.