By Jeff Gruber
S ara Isaacson entered UNC on August i8, 2006 with one objective in mind.
“My goal in life has always been to be an Army doctor,” says Isaacson. “Not
just a doctor, an Army doctor.”
Isaacson arrived as a cadet in UNO’s ROTO program with the intention of serving
her country after graduation. However, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), a federal policy
that prevents out gay, lesbian and bisexual soldiers from actively serving in the mili
tary, obstructed Sara’s dream of serving her country.
“It started in late November of 2009, when I came out to myself as a lesbian,” she
explains.
Knowingly lying about her identity prevented Sara from upholding the Army’s honor
code, leaving her with one option: to come out. After revealing her sexual orientation
to her commander, Isaacson was disenrolled from the ROTC program.
Initially, Sara was reluctant to bring any attention to her situation.
“I didn’t want to go public. I just wanted to go on with my life. I wanted to return to
a state of normal.”
Approximately four months after her disenrollment, Isaacson lobbied with advo
cates from UNC, Duke, and NC State in Washington, DC. At this time, a friend writing
for the Daily Tar Heel approached Sara for an interview.
“I felt removed enough from what happened earlier to do an interview. I thought
that the worse was over and thought that it would feel better to tell my story.”
Sara’s article headlined the Daily TarHeel on April 23, 2010. A few days later, a
journalist from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Sara’s hometown paper) called for
an interview. These articles, and one particular interview, brought Isaacson’s story
national attention.
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Fall 2010