The Air Force court-martialed Hough, accusing her of setting her own car on fire. The military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, in place from 1994 to 2011, kept her from citing the homophobic death threats in her defense. Her book of essays, “Leaving Isn’t The Hardest Thing,” details this and other horrors, with scathing critiques on U.S. society tempered with sardonic humor.
On our Veterans Day edition of Out in the Bay, Hough reads from her essays and talks about “life in the margins,” where so many people in the US dwell. After her USAF service, Hough was homeless for a while; incarcerated briefly; and worked as a bouncer, a barista, a bartender and a “cable guy” before becoming a professional writer. Learn more and find links to Hough’s articles and other work on her website,https://laurenhoughauthor.com/.
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This episode of Out in the Bay was produced by Kendra Klang and edited by Lusen Mendel.