Raunchy, anti-gay videos starring the
commanding officer of the USS Enterprise have surfaced just as “Don't
Ask, Don't Tell” has been repealed and the world's first
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is set to deploy overseas.
The videos were produced aboard the
Norfolk-based aircraft carrier in 2006 and 2007 and star Captain Owen
Honors – now the commander of the Enterprise, Norfolk-based
newspaper The
Virginian-Pilot reported.
In the skits, sailors parade in drag,
use homophobic slurs and simulate masturbation.
Honors, who is credited for writing and
producing the videos, was the carrier's executive officer, or XO, at
the time, and called them part of “XO Movie Night.”
“The videos were intended to be
humorous skits focusing the crew's attention on specific issues such
as port visits, traffic safety, water conservation, ship cleanliness,
etc,” the Navy said in a statement.
The statement added that the Navy plans
to launch an investigation.
In the skits, Honors refers to a Navy
surface warfare officer, or SWO – also played by Honors – as
“fag SWO boy.” SWOs include the officers who crew the carrier.
In another segment, called by Honors “chicks in the shower,”
same-sex sailors – in one instance two women and two men in another
– shower together. (The video is embedded in the right panel of
this page.)
Several female sailors said they were
offended by the videos and complained about them.
Honors produced a few dozen videos as
the Enterprise simultaneously supported two wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, sailors told the newspaper.