"I've thought for a while that it's a horribly flawed policy that should not be in place," said Abe Forman-Greenwald, a producer for "In Their Boots," an online film series looking at the effects of the Iraq and Afghan wars in the U.S.
But he was not sure how to fit the subject into the series until Choi's revelation moved him to pick up the phone. It was Choi who later told him about the burden the policy places on the same-sex partners of deployed service members.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, July 24, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 3 inches; 106 words Type of Material: Correction
'Silent Partners': An article in Saturday's Section A about the film "Silent Partners" said that a sailor with years of honorable service would face a dishonorable discharge if the military were to find out about his relationship with a civilian of the same sex. Service members can receive a dishonorable discharge if they are prosecuted for sodomy or related offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. But in most cases, gay conduct is handled as a violation of the "don't ask don't tell" rule, which is an administrative process and can only result in an honorable, general under honorable conditions or other than honorable discharge.
"The worst part of any of it is if anything were to happen to their partners when they are away, they are not notified," Forman-Greenwald said. "That tragically was echoed two weeks ago with the death of Seaman August Provost."
Provost's boyfriend learned from the media that the sailor's shot and torched body had been found in a guard shack at Camp Pendleton on June 30. The circumstances of the killing are under investigation.
In the film, a soldier with her face blurred sits at home scanning e-mail for word that her partner has returned safely from a mission. It is the only way she will know if something happened. Soon she too will be deploying to Iraq.
Only Cartwright was willing to be identified in the film, because his partner works on a large enough base that it would be hard to track him down.
He did not attend Thursday's screening. The other two partners in the film attended but were there incognito. They stood at the back of the theater, trying to blend in.
One of them ducked out at the end. The other, who was identified in the film as D, said he had been stunned to learn after Sept. 11, 2001, that his partner of nearly 20 years wanted to rejoin the Army.
"I couldn't understand how an out gay man could go back into the military," he said. "Then he explained to me that the military saved him. He had been on a legacy of poverty and abuse that very few in his family have been able to escape."
Although D is grateful to the military for making his partner into the man he loves, he has struggled to cope with the anxiety of the deployment. In the film, he describes how they must carefully censor their brief calls and messages. Any terms of endearment could arouse suspicion.
Although D knows there must be thousands like him, he has no way to reach out to them. So he pours his feelings into a blog called "A Gay Soldier's Husband."
He is counting the days until his partner returns in August.
But he won't be among the joyous throngs at the base.
"I want to be there the moment he steps off the plane, but I'm not going to be able to stop myself from hugging and kissing him," he said. "So I'll have to wait."
"Silent Partners" and other episodes of "In Their Boots" can be viewed at www.intheirboots.com.
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alexandra.zavis@latimes.com
