A group that represents gay troops has
called Navy Captain Owen Honors a “frat house president” for
producing and screening raunchy, anti-gay videos aboard the U.S.S.
Enterprise.
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), the largest group behind
repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” chided Honors for screening
the videos aboard the aircraft carrier as it simultaneously supported
two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Captain Owen Honors was acting more
like the president of a frat house rather than the executive officer
of the U.S.S Enterprise,” Sarvis said in a statement. “We call
upon the Navy to investigate this matter thoroughly. It is very
important that the most senior leadership make it absolutely clear
that this kind of bad behavior and poor judgment is not only
unacceptable, but that there is no place in the Navy for those who
engage in this sort of frat house behavior in the workplace.”
The videos were produced in 2006 and
2007 and star Honors – now the commander of the Enterprise, the
world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Norfolk-based
daily The Virginian-Pilot first 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.
Honors referrers to a Navy surface
warfare office, or SWO – also played by Honors – as “fag SWO
boy,” in the skits. 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 to superior officers
but their concerns were brushed aside.