Source: Metro Spirit
Author(s): Corey Pein
Date: June 6, 2007

AUGUSTA, GA. - After an investigation of 70 personnel for misuses of a classified computer network, said to include cyber sex, three were discharged — but for another reason.  

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephen Benjamin, 23, was among those kicked out on account of his sexual orientation.

As an Arabic linguist, Benjamin’s skills are in high demand. His discharge and others like it have some members of Congress questioning the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Benjamin, 23, is now working in Atlanta. Through an intermediary, he declined an interview with the Metro Spirit. However, he has told his story to the Associated Press and to the Michael D. Palm Center, which studies gays in the military.

Benjamin’s troubles began after an October 2006 audit of a system used to communicate between Fort Gordon and Iraq. Investigators found messages Benjamin had sent that indicated his orientation.

According to a Palm Center press release, Benjamin said, “Some of the worst violations of the government computer system involved people having cyber sex on the system, but those people retained their jobs.”  Benjamin told the center that he was “out entirely,” and that his team didn’t mind.

Investigators asked Benjamin to sign a statement denying he was gay, but he refused. Benjamin told his advocates that before his discharge, he was preparing to re-enlist. His captain’s evaluation called him an “exceptional leader.