Fox reported, “She said, ‘Sgt. Monk, I need to know if you can, as my first sergeant, if you can see discrimination if somebody says that they don’t agree with homosexual marriage.'” Having witnessed the commander’s ire regarding the instructor, Monk declined to answer. He also understood Air Force policy demands silence from homosexual detractors.

An Air Force veteran, Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk is in a fight for his career over a perceived objection to homosexuality. The Lackland Air Force base first sergeant was told by his commanding officer to clear out his office on Aug. 9 after disagreeing with her wanting to punish an instructor who had expressed religious objections to homosexuality.

The point of contention reportedly is not about anything Monk said, but what he refused to say.

“It’s all because he didn’t say anything wrong. He thought it,” said Steven Branson, pastor of Village Parkway Baptist Church in San Antonio where Monk, his wife and their three teenage sons.

Branson said he has been in touch with Monk since the sergeant told him Aug. 11 of the untenable situation. The pastor said Monk feels abandoned by the institution he has served for 19 years. Deployed as a medic, Monk devoted himself to saving the lives of his fellow service men and women, according to his pastor.

“Now I’m in trouble,” Monk told Branson, “and everybody’s leaving me behind.”

At issue is Monk’s refusal to reveal his personal views regarding homosexual marriage to his commanding officer. According to a Fox News report, the commander, a lesbian, asked Monk to report on disciplinary proceedings for an Air Force instructor under investigation for making objectionable comments about homosexual marriage during a training session.

According to Fox News, Monk interviewed the instructor and determined his comments were not intentionally provocative. But some trainees complained. Monk suggested that his commander use the incident as a learning tool about tolerance and diversity, but to no avail.

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