JEFF KEY “People who are trying to become conscientious objectors now are being told no. 'Nope, you know, you're going to fight. Even people who are coming out of the closet as gay are being deployed.”

GLANTZ You're listening to “The War Comes Home, warcomeshome.org, a project of KPFA Radio. I'm Aaron Glantz.

Jeff Key grew up in a small, conservative community in rural Alabama. A large man standing well over six feet tall, he had already come out as gay to his friends and family, graduated with a degree in theater, and moved to Los Angeles when, at age 34, he decided to join the Marine Corps.

KEY “I don't know. Maybe I'm insane. Somewhere along the way a lot of my Southern, conservative values have really stuck with me. In the Christian religion of my youth that I subscribe to teaching that if 'A man sees good and doeth it not to him it is sin.' You know, so the things that I aspire to do at least in my adult life are the things that my heart tells me are right and good to do.”

GLANTZ Under the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, openly gay men and lesbians are not allowed to serve in the U.S. military. More than 11,000 gay and lesbian service members have been expelled from the armed services since former President Bill Clinton implemented the policy 14 years ago, among them 59 Arabic linguists.

But Key told me that policy was never a problem.

KEY “My buddies knew from as soon as I became friends with somebody. It was never a problem. And I think that of gay people on any kind of issue who stand outside of the fence saying 'Is it okay if we play?' get that sort of response, but I'm kind of a big personality I guess. I live my life balls to the wall all the time and people look to us to see how to feel about our homosexuality a lot of the time. There are people who are flat out Nazis. But most people if you feel like its no big deal to you it's no big deal to them.”

GLANTZ Ironically, Key said, the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuality brought his unit closer together.

KEY "Because I had trusted them on that level when we got to Iraq, when guys would see something that would be particularly upsetting to them, or if a woman left their man as they went off at war, they would come to me with the most intimate details of their lives in a way that they said was particular to our friendship.”

GLANTZ After a few months in Iraq, Key was medically evacuated because of a non-combat related, life-threatening intestinal problem. His service there did not change the way he thought about the Marine Corps, but it did change the way he thought about the Iraq war. He was outraged that so many people had been killed or injured in a war based on fictitious claims of weapons of mass destruction.

KEY “That was my first slap in the face and everybody already knew there were no weapons. That was not news that got in to us. By the time it was there – they'll spill anything to these young people in the military. They're not all stupid, but they believe what they're told that they're there to help to the Iraqis and that there are these good Iraqis and the bad people who are fighting against the Iraqis that what people believe. But the last thing that Bush Co. and his crowd wants is for the truth to get out of Iraq or Iraq or into Iraq. That's why they're stopping military people from blogging and that's why they don't want soldiers in Iraq to know that there are Iraq war veterans here in this country that are speaking out against this war.”

GLANTZ On Mar. 31, 2004, Key came out as gay on CNN's Paula Zahn's Now program and the Marine Corps expelled him for violating the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

KEY "People who are conscientious objectors are now being told they're going to go fight. Even people who are coming out of the closet as gay are being deployed. I came out in front of five million people (on CNN) so they couldn't sweep it under the rug. I used this discriminating policy for once in my life I was able to use to avoid ever taking another human life for corporate gain."

GLANTZ For more on Jeff Key's story, you can check out the new documentary film, “Semper Fi: One Marine's Journey.” The film is based on a one-man show Key developed called "The Eyes of Babylon.”

You've been listening to “The War Comes Home,” Warcomeshome.org, a project of KPFA Radio. I'm Aaron Glantz