Omar Lopez, 29, the son of migrant farm workers, grew up in Yuma, Arizona but spent every summer in San Diego. He always loved to cook. But he also always wanted to serve his country. Both of those wishes were granted when, in 2002, just six months after the 9/11 attack, he enlisted in the Navy in San Diego.
"When they asked me what I wanted to do in the Navy, I told them I wanted to be a chef," recalls Lopez, who has not spoken with any other San Diego media but this blog. "Within two weeks, I was training to be a chef. It all worked out perfectly."
Lopez, who signed up for five years, was soon named one of the five chefs on the USS Carr, a frigate with a total population of 200 sailors. Lopez was deployed twice and spent most of that time in the Persian Gulf, from Dubai to Kuwait. But he did spend some time in Iraq, as well.
He says he never really told anyone on the ship that he was gay. 'But it was no secret,' says Lopez. 'When you're on a small ship, everyone gets to know everyone and it's like a family. It was never really an issue."
For his second deployment, however, he asked the Navy for an STD test. The Corpsman started asking him questions about whether he ever had homosexual intercourse, and he told the truth. 'This guy was the wrong guy to tell,' says Lopez.
'I was just six months from the end of my time in the Navy, and they told me I was being removed because I was a homosexual," he says. "But because I admitted it, they gave me an honorable discharge and the full benefits. Emotionally, I was destroyed, I wanted to leave. I felt like if they didn't want me I didn't want to be there. But now I want to go back."
So much so that on Wednesday, the day after Lopez heard about Tuesday's injunction by the Ninth Circuit Federal District Court that ordered the military to immediately stop enforcing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' Lopez, who now lives in Austin, Texas, went into back a recruiting office there to re-enlist. He came prepared: he had a briefcase full of commendations. But he was turned away by recruiters who said they had no knowledge of the injunction or any change to the military's policy on prohibiting openly gay and lesbian Americans from serving.
'They told me that if the law had been overturned they would have been notified,' Lopez says. 'I was disappointed, obviously. I really miss the Navy. I really want to go back. But I'm not giving up. I'm in college and I still plan to go back and become an officer. Meantime, I'm going to remain an advocate for young people to come out and admit who they are, and I'll urging people to write their Congressman. I do believe that 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is on life support, it's only a matter of time. I think people realize now the great harm this law has caused.'
Lopez, who left the Navy as an E-5 - second class petty officer - is the subject of an upcoming documentary called "March On," which tells the story of five people from different parts of the country who were moved to go to Washington for the gay and lesbian Equality March in October 2009. He says that if and when he does get back in the Navy, he wouldn't object to being stationed in San Diego.
"I love it out there, it's my home away from home," he says. "I love Mission Beach and Balboa Park, the zoo, and Coronado. But I don't care where I'm stationed. I just want to get back into the ROTC here in college, go back to the Navy, and become an officer. I want to continue serving my country and my fellow service members."
Here is the trailer for the upcoming film featuring Lopez:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igDVtlFh59Y&feature=player_embedded
