They can be gay all they want to be. But, they would be completely stupid to let other GIs know it. That would be painting a target directly on their butts. Buying the magazine in the PX would let everyone in the place that sees them buy it know they are fags.
Well, I know the sick story of Otis Toole, isn’t the military, but he justified his choice of homosexual men as his victims, simply because they made themselves so easily and indiscretely known that stalkers like himself could get at them. I am willing to bet that even the military has it’s own share of sociopaths, and personally it seems that plenty of homosexuals have not gotten the clue that announcing to the world is painting a bullseye on your head for some whackjob out there. Not to say that perhaps trusting your close friends and family about some things is bad, but please it just appears there are risks to letting the world over know. I would also mention sometimes there are issues with flaming yourself as more special than everyone else isn’t a smart idea. At least not where I work in an engineering firm, and I would bet even more so in the military.