Rich Merritt

Last updated
Rich Merritt
Born
Richard Wayne Merritt

(1967-09-26) September 26, 1967 (age 55)
Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.
Education Clemson University (BS)
University of Southern California (JD)
Occupation(s) Author, attorney
Website richmerritt.wordpress.com

Richard Wayne Merritt (born September 26, 1967) is an American LGBT activist, adult film actor, writer, and attorney. Merritt has been a public figure since he was featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine on June 28, 1998, in an article by Jennifer Egan entitled Uniforms In The Closet: The Shadow Life Of A Gay Marine. [1]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Merritt was born in Greenville, South Carolina to fundamentalist Christian parents. [2] Merritt attended the elementary and secondary schools of Bob Jones University. During his high school summers he worked in various positions at The Wilds, [2] a fundamentalist Christian camp. [3] He attended Bob Jones University for two years and in 1988 transferred to Clemson University.

United States Marine Corps

Soon after his eighteenth birthday, Merritt enlisted in the United States Marine Corps (the Marine Forces Reserve) and in January 1986 he shipped off to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. [2] After completing boot camp he attended a brief occupational school at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. Merritt returned to Greenville where he joined his Marine Corps Reserve unit, a company of ammunition technicians. [2] Merritt attained the rank of sergeant in May 1990, but because he was transitioning to the officer program, he did not deploy to Operation Desert Storm with the reserve unit. Merritt left the Marines in August 1998. [4]

Adult films

While in the Marine corps, Merritt appeared in 5 adult films under the stage name Danny Orlis. [2]

Law

In August 1998 Merritt enrolled at the University of Southern California Law School in Los Angeles [5] and graduated with a Juris Doctor in May 2001. He was a summer associate at the LA office of the international law firm Jones Day and became an associate after law school. He was admitted to the California Bar Association in December 2001.

In late 2003 Merritt's father was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal disease known also as Lou Gehrig's disease. The diagnosis and the nature of the illness prompted Merritt to give up his San Diego law practice in early 2004 and return to the South to be near his family in this time of crisis. [6] [ better source needed ] He obtained employment at the former Powell Goldsten, an Atlanta law firm now part of Bryan Cave. His father died in 2005 and a year later Merritt moved to New York where currently he works as an attorney in Manhattan.

Controversies

Fundamentalism

According to his memoir, Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island was the first time he had any significant experience away from the fundamentalist enclave of Greenville and the BJU campus. During basic training his rack mate was Catholic, the first time he had befriended someone outside his faith. Bob Jones University has in its past had racially discriminatory rules. At boot camp, Merritt had an African-American drill instructor, the first time a black man had been in authority over him. Merritt has described boot camp as a "liberalizing experience."

When he left his initial active duty training assignments and returned to BJU, Merritt began having problems with the rules and policies of the school. A year later he withdrew while on a disciplinary status known as "spiritual probation."[ citation needed ]

Sexual orientation

Merritt had not yet grappled with the issue of his homosexual orientation. In his memoirs, Merritt claimed that when he attended Bob Jones Junior High School, Bob Jones III, then-president of BJU, said at a White House anti-gay protest that "homosexuals should be stoned to death as the Bible commanded." [7] In June 1998, Merritt was featured on the cover the New York Times Magazine in a story about gay people serving the US military under the don't ask, don't tell policy. [8] [ better source needed ] Merritt was only identified in the article by his initial R. [8] [ better source needed ] Military authorities soon identified Merrit as the subject of the article, but because Merritt was not explicitly named in the article, he was not charged with sodomy under the Uniform Code of Military Justice [9]

In August 1998 Merritt received an honorable discharge from the Marines and immediately enrolled at the University of Southern California Law School. That fall, a freelance writer named Max Harrold, approached Merritt about interviewing him for a story he planned to pitch to The Advocate, the leading national news and interest magazine serving the lesbian and gay community. Merritt agreed and he and Harrold met with Judy Wieder, The Advocate's editor-in-chief. She agreed to publish the story in the end-of-the year double issue featuring a roundup of notable events from 1998. The cover story for the issue featured George Michael, the singer who had just been arrested for public masturbation. [8] [ better source needed ]

The February 16, 1999 edition of The Advocate exposed Merritt's secret career in gay pornography in a cover story titled The Marine Who Did Gay Porn. [10]

In 2002 Merritt began working on his autobiography. In a cover story for A&U Magazine, Merritt described his motivations for writing the memoir, saying he wanted to set the record straight about his activities in gay porn and at Bob Jones University, but that writing the memoir was also therapeutic. [11]

Periodicals

From 1996 until his resignation from the Marines in 1998, Merritt wrote an op-ed column for the Navy-Marine Corps Times, a Gannett-owned newspaper [12] distributed on US military installations throughout the world. The Times had a section called "Back Talk" where one Sailor and one Marine shared their opinions on different aspects of the service. So that he could write candidly without fear of repercussion, the Times encouraged Merritt to write under a pseudonym so he chose the name "Buster Pittman," the name of his boyfriend's dog. [8] [ better source needed ] For his columns, the Times editors allowed Merritt to use his column to advocate controversial positions such as allowing women to serve in combat, reducing the penalty for adultery from a felony conviction to a misdemeanor and repealing "Don't ask, don't tell" to allow lesbians and gay men to serve openly in the military.

This last column caught the attention of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a watchdog group in Washington, DC who provided or arranged for legal aid to members of the military who needed assistance under the "Don't ask, don't tell" law.

Published books

Media coverage

In January 2008, to launch the media blitz for Code of Conduct Merritt was interviewed for CBS News on Logo (TV Channel) by Itay Hod. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Jones University</span> Private evangelical university in Greenville, South Carolina

Bob Jones University (BJU) is a private, non-denominational evangelical university in Greenville, South Carolina, known for its conservative cultural and religious positions. The university, with approximately 3,155 students, is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. In 2017, the university estimated the number of its graduates at 40,184.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't ask, don't tell</span> Former policy on gay people serving in the US military

"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December 21, 1993, and was in effect from February 28, 1994, until September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service. This relaxation of legal restrictions on service by gays and lesbians in the armed forces was mandated by Public Law 103–160, which was signed November 30, 1993. The policy prohibited people who "demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the armed forces of the United States, because their presence "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Jones III</span>

Robert Reynolds Jones III, son of Bob Jones Jr. and grandson of Bob Jones Sr., served as the third president of Bob Jones University from 1971 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Epting Mundy Jr.</span> United States Marine Corps general

Carl Epting Mundy Jr. was a United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 30th Commandant of the Marine Corps and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from July 1, 1991 until his retirement on June 30, 1995, after 42 years of service. He was notable for his opposition to military service by gay people and for helping to shape the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy of 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Jones (administrator)</span>

Stephen Benjamin Jones is a former president of Bob Jones University. Born on the university campus, he graduated from Bob Jones Academy. In 1992 he received a bachelor's degree in public speaking from BJU and in 1996, a Master of Divinity. On the day he became University president in 2005, Jones also received a Ph.D. in Liberal Arts Studies from BJU. Jones's wife, Erin Rodman Jones, who is the Director of the BJU Museum & Gallery, is also a BJU graduate. They have three children.

Johnny Rahm was the stage name of Barry "J.T." Rogers, an American former gay pornographic film actor and magazine model.

Robert Kirthwood "Lefty" Johnson was the pioneer financial officer of Bob Jones University and the first biographer of Bob Jones, Sr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dwight Gustafson</span> American classical composer

Dwight Leonard Gustafson was an American composer, conductor, and dean of the School of Fine Arts at Bob Jones University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BJU Press</span> University press

BJU Press is a publisher of textbooks for Christian schools and homeschools as well as trade and children's books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Alva</span>

Staff Sergeant Eric Fidelis Alva is the first Marine seriously injured in the Iraq War. On March 21, 2003, he was in charge of 11 Marines in a supply unit when he stepped on a land mine and lost his right leg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Sanchez</span> American journalist (born 1970)

Matthew "Matt" Sanchez is an American journalist, who has worked for Fox News and other organizations. He previously served as a Marine reservist, and was involved in a controversy about access to campus for military recruiters at Columbia University. In March 2007, Sanchez was awarded the first "Jeane Kirkpatrick Academic Freedom Award" at the Conservative Political Action Conference. In the early 90s, Sanchez performed in gay pornographic films as Pierre LaBranche and Rod Majors. He was involved in the Scott Thomas Beauchamp controversy, as a source.

Kenneth Edward Hay was the founder of The Wilds, a Christian fundamentalist camp and conference center.

James Rand Hummel is an American author, preacher and camp administrator. He has worked for many years as assistant director of The Wilds Christian Camp/Conference Center in Brevard, North Carolina, and in 2007, he was named Director of THE WILDS of New England in Deering, New Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Lucas (director)</span> American producer, actor and pornographic film director

Michael Lucas is a Russian-born American–Israeli businessman and the founder and CEO of Lucas Entertainment, Manhattan's largest gay-adult-film company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Fremont</span> American Academic

Walter Gilbert Fremont, Jr. was dean of the School of Education, Bob Jones University (1953–1990) and “a seminal force in the inauguration and development of the Christian school movement.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emery Bopp</span> American painter and professor

Emery Bopp was an American artist and long-time chairman of the Division of Art, Bob Jones University.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Stenholm</span> American film director

Katherine Corne Stenholm was an American film director and the founding director of Unusual Films, the production company of Bob Jones University.

Evangelist Bob Jones Sr. founded Bob Jones University out of concern with the secularization of higher education. BJU has had five presidents: Bob Jones Sr. (1927–1947); Bob Jones Jr. (1947–1971); Bob Jones III (1971–2005); Stephen Jones (2005—2014); and Steve Pettit,. Its religious influence, its race relations, and its political influence have generated significant controversies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in the United States Marine Corps</span>

There have been women in the United States Marine Corps since 1918, and women continue to serve in the Corps today. As of 2020, women make up 8.9% of total active duty Marines. These numbers give the Marine Corps the lowest ratio of women in all of the U.S military branches. Women's presence in the Marine Corps first emerged in 1918 when they were permitted to do administrative work in an attempt to fill the spots of male Marines fighting overseas. It was not until 1948 that women were able to become a permanent part of the Corps with the passing of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act. However, even with the Integration Act, women were still banned from certain military occupation specialties. It was not until 2016 that Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that all military occupations would be open to women without exception. As of 2018, there were 18 women serving in the Marine Corps combat arms. In December 2020, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego agreed to join the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in accepting female recruits, with 60 female recruits starting their boot camp training at the San Diego depot in February 2021. 53 of these recruits would successfully graduate from boot camp in April 2021 and become Marines.

References

  1. ↑ Uniforms in the Closet: The Shadow Life Of A Gay Marine", New York Times Magazine, June 28, 1998, by Jennifer Egan
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Merritt, Rich (2005), Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star, New York, NY: Kensington Books, ISBN   0-7582-0968-1
  3. ↑ Wilds.org Archived 2008-12-12 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Rich Merritt reveals his 'Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star'". Metro Weekly.
  5. ↑ "A Gay Marine: After Leaving Corps, O.C. Man Reveals Truth," Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1998, by Lisa Richardson. [ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ "Ex-Porn Actor Is Now Ex-PoGo Lawyer," Fulton County Daily Report by Meredith Hobbs.
  7. ↑ http://lgbtbju.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/jons-iii-homosexuals00012.jpg [ bare URL image file ]
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Finally At Ease: Captain Rich Merritt quits military because he does not want to hide his homosexuality," The Advocate, January 19, 1999 [ permanent dead link ], by Max Harrold.
  9. ↑ RICHARDSON, LISA (18 December 1998). "A Gay Marine". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ↑ "The Marine Who Did Gay Porn," The Advocate, February 16, 1999, by John Erich.
  11. ↑ "Survival Guide," A&U Magazine Archived 2008-10-12 at the Wayback Machine , by B. Andrew Plant.
  12. ↑ Army Times Publishing Company website.
  13. ↑ 1/25/08 "Former Marine Interview: Rich Merritt," LOGO Online, by Itay Hod.
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