interview with war resister skyler james

AutoStraddle - "News, Entertainment and Girl-on-Girl Culture" - has an excellent interview with war resister Skyler James.
Skyler James grew up believing that joining the military "was the best thing you could do to make your parents and your country proud." Now 21, James was denied the DADT discharge she expected and wants you to know the true story of her appeal to Canada for asylum.

When Private Bethany Smith, now known as Skyler James, 21, was outed as a lesbian by her comrades, she expected her "Don't Ask Don't Tell" discharge to follow shortly afterwards. It didn't. Instead, James, who was 19 at the time, was told they'd "deal with the paperwork" following her next turn in Afghanistan. In the ensuing time, James endured so much harassment and persecution in the US Army that she went AWOL and fled for Canada, where she wants to stay and is seeking refugee status.

Read the interview here.

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