Staff Sergeant Bryan Clark was in the Marine Corps Reserves from 1984-1987. Bryan served on active duty beginning in 1987 and after several deployments and numerous service medals he was discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 1996 when he was outed by a fellow Marine who was being questioned for homosexual activity. Photo: Lakewood, Colorado

Corporal Mark Setser joined the Marine Corps in 1990 with a specialization in refrigeration/A.C. repair. He later served as a driver of a Combat Rubber Reconnaissance Craft (zodiac boat) in Okinawa, Japan. Mark decided not to re-enlist because of the strains of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” He was honorably discharged in 1998 after completing four years of active duty and four years of inactive duty service. Photo: St. George, Utah

Lieutenant Robin Chaurasiya (R) entered the Air Force ROTC in 2002 and she began active duty in 2006. After having a civil union ceremony with her partner, Katie Pollom (L). Robin came out to her superiors in a letter stating she couldn’t serve in a military that refused to serve her. Robin's Commander claimed that Lt. Chaurasiya made her statements in order to terminate her active service, and she was a valuable asset, she must stay. On April 26, 2010 Robin was discharged from the Air Force. Photo: Medford, Massachusetts

Seaman René Pedraza del Prado joined the Navy in 1978 and served aboard the U.S.S. Jason AR-8. After he was “outed” and word got around of his sexuality René sought legal counsel from the LGBT Legal Defenses Fund in San Diego and was honorably discharged for homosexual conduct in 1981. Photo: Potomac, Maryland

Lieutenant Dan Choi is a 2003 graduate of the US Military Academy. He is an Arab linguist and combat veteran of the Iraq War. Choi served in the Army National Guard as an infantry platoon leader until 2010 when he was discharged for coming out on the Rachel Maddow Show in March 2009. Photo: New York City, New York

Sergeant Tracey Gerald joined the Marine Corps in 1991 with her twin sister Stacey. Tracey was a recruiter and served as an ambulance driver in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Due to the strain of serving under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, Tracey retired from the Marine Corps in February 2008. Gold's Gym, Iriving, Texas

Sergeant Tracy Giesker served in the Army as a member of the Military Police from 1981-1994. Due to numerous threats and investigations into her sexuality, Tracy decided not to continue her military career after 13 years of service. Photo: Birmingham, Alabama

Cadet Mara Boyd completed three years in the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated in the top ten percent of her basic training class before she came out to her commander in 2002. She was honorably discharged in 2003. Boyd’s ROTC scholarship, which had paid for two years of nonresident tuition, was revoked upon her discharge, and the government demanded that she repay her scholarships and book stipends, amounting to a $30,000 debt.

Brenda S. “Sue” Fulton is a 1980 graduate of the US Military Academy, the first class of women to graduate from West Point. She served for five years in the Signal Corps in Germany as a platoon leader, staff officer, and company commander. Sue serves as the Board Chair for Knights Out, an organization of West Point Alumni, Staff and Faculty who are united in supporting the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender soldiers to openly serve their country.

Chief Warrant Officer Two Travis Hengen served in the Army from 1991-2003 as an interrogator and counterintelligence agent. He was honorably discharged from the military in 2003 under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” , two months before Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo: Boston, Massachusetts

Petty Officer Lisa Kove was an Aviation Storekeeper in the U.S. Navy from 1978-1982. She is presently the Executive Director of DOD FED GLOBE an educational national nonprofit that advocates for all Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) employees of the Department of Defense. Photo: San Diego, California

Specialist Rose Miztri joined the Army in 1968 and medically retired in 1976 after a motorcycle accident. Rose was an aircraft mechanic in Korea and a crew chief of a “dust off” helicopter ambulance during the Vietnam War. In 2009 she started living as Rose. Photo: Prescott, Arizona

Sergeant Jen Hogg (L) served in the New York Army National Guard from 2000-2005. She trained as a 63Y track vehicle mechanic but also worked as the HEMTT wrecker operator. Jen is co-founder of the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), a non-profit organization dedicated to serving military women and veterans. She is pictured with her partner Jackie Scalone (R). Photo: Jersey City, New Jersey

Lieutenant Andrew Holmes enlisted in the California Army National Guard through the Army (ROTC) in 1986. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant and served with the 870th Military Police Company (Combat) in the California Army National Guard. In 1993 he wrote a formal letter to his commander informing him of his sexuality. Holmes was discharged during a field training exercise in 1994. Photo: Sacramento, California

Rear Admiral Alan M. Steinman, MD, MPH is the former Director of Health and Safety for the Coast Guard, in which he served as both the chief medical officer and chief safety officer. During his 25 years of service, Dr. Steinman developed the Coast Guard’s system of emergency medical services and was instrumental in creating the Coast Guard’s EMT School. He served from 1972 - 1997. RADM Steinman is the most senior military officer to self-identify as gay after his retirement. Photo: Dupont, Washington

Captain Anthony “Tony” Woods is a graduate of West Point and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and was discharged from the Army in 2008 after he came out to his commander. He subsequently ran for U.S. Congress in California’s 10th Congressional District, in a bid to become the first openly gay African- American in Congress. He lost that bid, receiving eight percent of a special election vote on September 1, 2009. Alexandria, Virginia

Lieutenant Colonel Vicki Smith joined the Oregon Air National Guard in 1976. She was a mission commander who served in Operation Dessert Storm. In 2004, her General recommended Vicki to be Unit Commander. When she decided to accept the position, a fellow officer threatened to out her to the General. She declined the position and retired in 2004. Vicki and Jeannie, her partner of 28 years, run a food pantry that services people living with HIV. Photo: Vancouver, Washington

Sonar Technician 1st Class Marie “MJ” Aponte enlisted in the Navy in 1982 as a nuclear field electronics technician using, repairing and training others on the sonar equipment that is used to detach and chase submarines and ships. She completed her 20-year commitment and left the military in 2002 and began her transition from male to female. Photo: Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Knight joined the Navy in early 2001 and trained as a Hebrew linguist. He was discharged in 2005 when his marriage-annulment papers included references to his homosexuality. Yet because of a bureaucratic mistake, he was accidentally listed as an inactive reservist and recalled back to service in 2006. He was discharged again in 2007 after writing a letter to the editor of Stars and Stripes newspaper on gay rights. Photo: Monterey, California

Seaman José (Joe) Anthony Rodriguez was rated the top sailor on his ship before dishonorable discharge in 2009. He comes from a military family, although he was the first member of his family to join the Navy instead of the Air Force. His Navy career was cut short after he was “drugged and raped” at a gay bar in San Diego. After the incident, Joe went to a civilian hospital that ended up violating HIPPA laws and released Joe’s records to the Navy. He is in the process of repealing that decision. Photo: Van Horn, Texas

Jacquelyn Ruffner “J.A. Steel” joined the Army ROTC for two years while at the University of California. She was an expert marksman and was separated due to medical conditions during the drawdown after the Cold War ended in 1991 and the Gulf War was over. Photo: Herriman, Utah

Colonel Stewart Bornhoft graduated from West Point in 1969 and later taught there. He served in the Army on active duty since 1969 and retired in 1995. Colonel Bornhoft is a decorated veteran who commanded combat engineers during two tours in Vietnam. He also commanded two districts in the Army Corps of Engineers. He is legally married to his husband, a Navy veteran of eight years’ service. Photo: Bonita, California

Staff Sergeant Scott M. Spychala joined the Air National Guard in 1983 and served until 2003. He worked as an air cargo specialist and in the security forces before he retired from service as a result of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. He is pictured with his daughter, Helena. Photo: Indianapolis, Indiana

Cadet Sara Isaacson was dis-enrolled from Army ROTC at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in January 2010, ending her dreams of following in her grandfather’s footsteps and becoming an Army doctor. She wrote a letter to her commander two weeks before her commission stating that she was a lesbian and due to her values of honor and integrity she couldn’t lie or hide who she was. She is appealing the decision of the Army that she also repay her $79,265 scholarship. Photo: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Yeoman Timothy V. Beauchamp joined the Navy in 1984. He was trained as nuclear engineering specialist, cross-rated and then served on the submarine U.S.S. Henry Clay, where he was the ship’s Protestant Lay Reader while out at sea. After his wife shared her thoughts with friends and word got out about his homosexuality, Timothy was honorably discharged for homosexual conduct in 1988. Photo: Jay, Oklahoma

Sergeant John “Jay” Dwyer served as a nuclear weapons specialist in the Air Force from 1986 - 1992. Upon completing six years of active duty, he transferred into a supply position in the Air Force Reserves. He decided to leave the military as tensions were building around the implementation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”. Photo: San Francisco, CA

Sergeant Anthony Bustos joined the Army National Guard in 2002. He served as a combat engineer and a gunner in his first tour in Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2004 - 2005) and a combat medic in (2008 - 2009). Anthony watched his two best friends in the army die when an IED hit their Humvee in 2005. On May 25th 2010, he came out on ABC World News. “I feel like I might have cheated them of knowing the real me because I was afraid to come out to them and they died not knowing the real me, who I was completely. And I feel every day that I should have told them.” Photo: Abilene, Texas

Private 1st Class Kai Azada served in silence from 1982-1988 as an Army dental laboratory specialist. While in the Army, he reported a sexual harassment claim and was subsequently investigated for being a lesbian. The 1982 brain injury that derailed his life was not diagnosed until 2009. He is a 10-year member of the Alexander Hamilton Post #448 of the American Legion. Kai transitioned from female to male in 2000. Photo: KZSC Radio (UCSC campus), Santa Cruz, California

Lance Corporal Jeff Key joined the Marine Reserves in 2000, at the age of 34. After the terrorist attacks of 2001 his unit made preparations for activation and in March 2003 deployed to Eastern Iraq. Two months later, Jeff was flown back to the United States for surgery. He decided to leave the military because of his concerns about the things he had observed in Iraq. On March 31, 2004, he went on CNN as Paula Zahn’s guest and spoke out using the ban on gays in the military to be discharged. Photo: Salt Lake City, Utah

Cadet Katie Miller was ranked ninth out of 1,157 cadets in her West Point class resigned her career in the military. In her resignation letter she wrote “I am unwilling to suppress an entire portion of my identity any longer because it has taken a significant personal, mental and social toll on me and detrimentally affected my professional development. I have experienced a relentless cognitive dissonance by attempting to adhere to §654 [colloquially known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”]. Photo: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Lieutenant Colonel Denise Jacinto (R) and Lieutenant Colonel Sharie Russell (L) both served in the Army Military Police Corps. Denise served from 1976 - 1996. She was one of the first women assigned to a combat division and served as the first division provost marshal on Ft. Hood with the 2nd AD. Sharrie served from 1974 - 1995. She was the former commander of a 1200-soldier battalion. They both ended their military careers, retiring in order to be together. They have been together for 17 years. Photo: Lincoln, Alabama

Corporal Brett Edward Stout joined the Marine Corps in 1997. He studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. Corporal Stout was stationed at Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Base, Hawaii as a Russian cryptologic linguist and weapons marksmanship instructor. He was honorably discharged in 2002. Brett published his first novel Sugar-baby Bridge in 2006. Photo: Long Island, New York

Bronwen Tomb enlisted in the Coast Guard in 2002. She entered the US Coast Guard Academy in 2004. Though she flourished at the academy, her tenure would come to an abrupt end when a classmate decided to out her to her command. She had the choice to sign a waiver of denial, but she felt her honesty and integrity were more important. She refused to sign the document and was discharged from the Coast Guard a few weeks later. Photo: Staten Island, New York

Staff Sergeant Jeff Carnes served in the Army as an Arabic linguist from 1997-2004. He was in Kosovo with the 1st Armored Division in 2000-2001and in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division in 2003. No longer wanting to hide who he was, Carnes retired from the military after serving in the Army Reserves from 2004-2006. Photo: Washington, District of Columbia

Allyson (L) and her wife Danyelle (R), are both 1994 graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point. They are pictured with their four children (L-R) Truman, Jubilee, Deacon and Harry. Allyson and Danyelle have been married for 15 years; they met their freshman year at West Point. Allyson began her transition from male to female in 2007 and is the Associate Director of Diversity for the Human Rights Campaign. Photo: Montgomery Village, Maryland