Lance Bass's
boyfriend, Reichen Lehmkuhl, says he and the former 'N Sync
star have been dealing with threats ignited by his new
memoir about the trials of being gay while serving in
the military. "We have to be very protective,"
Lehmkuhl tells the TV show Inside Edition in an
interview that was to air Wednesday.
"I am not going to hide," says the former Air
Force captain and winner of season 4 of CBS's
Amazing Race. "There are threats that come
in from people who do not want me to be so public and
expose what is going on in the military."
Lehmkuhl, 32, says that he and Bass, who
revealed he is gay in July, forward the threats to
private security personnel, who send what they
consider the more serious ones to the FBI. "Everything is
being covered, so we feel safe," he said.
Lehmkuhl's book, Here's What We'll Say:
Growing Up, Coming Out, and the U.S. Air Force
Academy, recounts his time keeping his sexual
orientation a secret from Air Force colleagues.
"There was definitely an institutionalized
acceptance of people being homophobic and telling gay
jokes and making homophobic remarks--really,
really mean homophobic remarks to the point of 'Kill gay
people,'" Lehmkuhl, who was honorably discharged from
the Air Force five years ago, told ABC News earlier
this week.
He became a target when people began to suspect
his sexuality, he says. One night, he told ABC News, a
bag was pulled over his head and he was sexually
assaulted. He didn't report the incident. (AP)