WATCH: Gay couple recalls “serving in secret” in new doc about discrimination in the U.S. military

Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, a day when we honor those that have served in the Armed Forces throughout history, which does, indeed, include many LGBTQ+ Americans—despite the fact that our government spent a number of years trying to keep that a secret.

Yes, our community has a long and complicated relationship with the military. For most of history, gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals were excluded from serving all-together.

Of course, that changed when, in 1993, then-President Bill Clinton signed what’s commonly known as the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy into law, allowing these individuals to serve—you know, so long as they didn’t talk about!

But just because Obama repealed DADT in 2010—formally ending restrictions on restrictions gay, lesbian, and bisexual personnel in the military—homophobia in the Armed Forces didn’t just disappear. The fight against still continues today.

Serving In Secret: Love, Country, And Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is the latest documentary in MSNBC’s “Turning Point” series, which traces the history of LGBTQ+ military service and the discrimination that’s plagued it since the beginning.

The film assembles leading voices in politics, historians, civil rights activists, and retired military personnel to tell its story, including quite a few recognizable names and faces like Rachel Maddow, Nancy Pelosi, and Pete Buttigieg, who previously joined the U.S. Navy Reserve and even took a leave from his South Bend, Indiana mayoral term to deploy to Afghanistan in 2014.

But at the heart of Serving In Secret is the story of gay couple Tom Carpenter and Courtland “Court’ Hirschi, who bravely share their personal experiences with the military over the years.

Following his family’s military lineage, Tom joined the Naval Academy and, after graduating in 1970, planned to serve as an attack pilot for the U.S. Marine Corps. But then he met and fell deeply in love with Court, immediately realizing he’d have to keep this veyr important part of his life a secret.

Tom knew that, if discovered, it could result in being kicked out of the military with a dishonorable discharge, a court martial, even jail time—or worse. But the couple’s situation was far from an exception. And so, when DADT was signed into law, Tom dedicated himself to fighting for its repeal.

Tom, Court, and so many more share their stories in Serving In Secret: Love, Country, And Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which premieres this Veteran’s Day weekend on MSNBC on Sunday, November 12, and then begins streaming exclusive on Peacock on November 13.

You can watch a brief trailer for Serving In Secret below:

Related:

Gays in fatigues: 10 LGBTQ+ military films worth watching

‘The Inspection,’ ‘Tom of Finland,’ and more movies to watch that spotlight queer people serving in the military.