Will "coming out" to your new unit hurt your career?

I view being gay is like viewing religon no one cares unless you talk about it and push the issue. I have had several gays in my squad as asquad leader and my only concern was skill level. They functiuoned perfectly with no issues. that subject should never come up unless somthing wrong is happening.

I have a gay Soldier in my unit. He gets his mission done and just recently graduated BLC. I think you gave sound advice.

Maybe I'm reading your Op wrong, but it sounds like the SGT is already "out of the closet" and is asking about whether the rest of the unit will accept him based upon his performance or if there is predjudice against gays. It is hard to imagine a gay soldier who is not serving openly confiding the fact that he is gay to a sponsor in a new unit that he barely knows, and who could easily spill his secret. The risks of disclosure are too great to just tell that to a sponsor.

It's easy to say that "all that matters is performance" and that's the way it should be, but a simple review of articles and even posts here on RP will show that there are many people adamantly opposed to gays having the same rights as heterosexuals, including the right to serve openly in the military. And many of those could be in his chain of command or other positions of authority and could be in a position to harm his career.

And while you appear to be opened minded, your use of the phrase "what you do behind closed doors" is actually part of the problem. Many of those who are anti-gay say things like "why do they have to flaunt it" or "why do they have to expose us to that" for simply doing the routine things that heterosexuals do everyday without anyone noticing, like kissing their partner goodbye after getting dropped off at work, or having a picture of their loved one on their desk. When straight couples do that, it's "normal", but if a gay couple does it, it's "flaunting it". They expect gays to keep themselves and their loved ones hidden away, behind closed doors.

So if you have people in your unit that feel that way, he may indeed encounter difficulties. That's what I'd guess he was seeking info about.