We spoke to Morgan (she/her) in Rochester, NY on June 18, 2026. Morgan served in the US Navy as an E-4 from 1973 until 1977, and she was honorably discharged. Morgan comes from a military family, and she told us that she enlisted when she “needed out of the great state of Oklahoma” after a series of personal crises. 

Morgan’s sense of identity was “unresolved” when she enlisted, but she was aware that women and queer people were unequally treated in the military. She recalled that women in the service were often perceived to be “lesbians or whores,” which led many, including herself, to seek out “covers” in marriages of convenience. The military, as she put it, “forced us to live lives of lies.” Morgan was married to two different men before coming out during her service. Thereafter, she sought networks of allies who felt safe “to talk to, to date, and to have in community.” The Navy as a whole, however, was not a safe place for her. Morgan was sexually assaulted by a supervisor who was never held accountable for their crime. Moreover, she was threatened with a dishonorable discharge after a former lover outed her. Morgan refused to make a statement denying or confirming the accusation of “sodomy and homosexuality,” and the charges were ultimately dropped.

When she thinks back to her time in the Navy, Morgan said that “there was little that stood in my way to be quietly gay.” But quiet wasn’t comparable with her “authentic self [that] came out screaming.” She left the military with renewed passion. “The Navy turned me into a good feminist and an advocate – for myself and for others,” she told us, “it was my college.” Today Morgan lives as an out lesbian with her wife of 47 years. She is an advocate for women and the queer community, and she takes an active role in political protest. Most recently, she founded the Monroe County Safety Marshalls to trains volunteers to maintain peace and safety at rallies.