America online December 1997: the Internet reshaped how gay people interact. it also put at risk the navy career of officer Timothy McVeigh. (Safety in numbers).

Since the mid 1990s, America Online has led the Internet revolution that has opened vital new lines of communication for lesbians and gays. E-mail, chat rooms, and instant messages have made it a snap for gays to make contact privately and without fear. "The Intemet is a great resource for members of the gay and lesbian community. It offers the ability to get information and chat with people of your interest with whom you would otherwise never have contact," observes Timothy McVeigh, who in the fall of 1997 became a poster boy for AOL's privacy policies alter his employer--the U.S. Navy--became aware of his anonymous online profile, which listed his marital status as "gay."

The case challenged both the presumed anonymity of gays on AOL and the military's adherence to its own "don't ask, don't tell" policy. McVeigh accidentally sent out an E-mail to the wife of a colleague under a personal screen name. She told the Naw about the unsigned "gay" profile; the Navy launched an investigation. "The military violated federal law in pursuing the whole matter," McVeigh says. "And the person they got to talk to [at AOL] didn't follow America Online's policies, so he gave out the information regarding who the profile belonged to."

As an officer on the submarine USS Chicago, McVeigh was reassigned, and in December the Navy ordered him dismissed. McVeigh went to court and won: A judge ruled he had not violated "don't ask" and could not be discharged. Unfortunately, McVeigh says, the undesirable jobs the Navy offered after he won his case led him to take early retirement. He now works for a hotel chain in Florida and is "keeping an eye open for a potential partner."

AOL has since clarified and strengthened its privacy policy, but as McVeigh ruefully notes, "While [the Internet] offers significant advantages, certainly it doesn't come without its pitfalls."