YNOT –The U.S. Navy has recommended discharging a Florida man from its Reserve Officer Training Corps program and ordering him to repay associated scholarship funds because he performed in gay sex films as part of his personal life.
Midshipman Andrew Koch used the name Patrick Hunter as a FabScout model. He is three years through a four-year college education paid for by the Navy in exchange for a commitment to serve upon graduation. A military Personnel Review Board unanimously decided the gay porn movies in which Koch performed are “inconsistent with good order and discipline” and “inconsistent with what the Navy deems morally acceptable.”
On July 27, Koch was placed on an involuntary leave of absence pending an investigation of what the Navy called “an alleged serious moral offense that brings discredit upon the naval service.” If upheld, the charge could lead to “disenrollment from the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps” better known to most as ROTC.
If Koch is ejected from the program, he will be liable for the nearly $26,000 in tuition, fees and other educational expenses the Navy already has paid.
In his defense, Koch said he ventured into gay porn because of financial hardship he experienced after he was placed on a medical leave of absence.
“I was not at all ashamed of gay sex,” he told SouthFloridaGayNews.com. “I just needed to support myself. It was never my intention to bring any discredit to the service. I never correlated my private conduct with my public service. I saw a disconnect between the two.”
Koch is appealing the PRB’s decision.
“Morality is a very subjective idea,” he noted, and his gay-porn career “would not make me any less of a capable officer.”
The PRB rejected those claims, but the board did concede Koch’s conduct was “perfectly legal.” The board’s concern remains that Koch’s off-duty behavior is inconsistent with Navy standards.
Norm Kent, a first amendment and civil rights attorney who has agreed to undertake a pro bono appeal of Koch’s proposed discharge, called the PRB’s decision “precipitous” and “legally unwarranted.” He said the military service contract Koch signed was a civil contract with “specific terms and conditions that have not been breached.” Koch may have breached the Navy’s standards, he added, but the legal issue is whether the midshipman was made sufficiently aware of those standards beforehand.
