Code of Conduct

Memoirist Merritt (Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star) delivers a thought-provoking fiction on the problem of being gay in the military. As Clinton begins putting the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy into place in the early 1990s, closeted and disturbed Naval Investigative Service Agent Jay Gared goes on a mission to catch violators of Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice—i.e., the rule that states sodomy is a criminal act. Chief Petty Officer Eddie L. Johnson, who has been switching blood test vials for six years to get around the service’s mandatory HIV test, gets into Jay’s sights. When Eddie catches Jay snooping in his home, Jay shoots Eddie and fakes Eddie’s suicide. Shocked friends and family know better, and for a group of close-knit gay and lesbian military personnel, the “suicide” is a call to arms. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Donald A. Hawkins, a gay rights advocate, vows to learn the truth. Merritt raises provocative questions and delivers a graphic crime tale. (Jan.)