Rich Merritt is an author, attorney, and activist who first gained national prominence in 1998 as the subject of a New York Times Magazine cover story on gay and lesbian service members under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Merritt was raised in a strict fundamentalist Christian environment and attended elementary school through college at Bob Jones University before transferring to Clemson University.

Merritt served in the United States Marine Corps as both an enlisted Marine and an officer from 1985 through 1998. During his military service, he led a parallel life moonlighting as an adult film performer under the stage name Danny Orlis. His experiences navigating Don't Ask, Don't Tell and his transition from a model Christian school student to a controversial public figure form the core of his 2005 memoir, Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star.

Following his honorable discharge in 1998, Merritt earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California Law School in 2001. He has practiced law at major firms in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York. Beyond his memoir, he has written op-ed columns for the Navy-Marine Corps Times, California Lawyer, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His novels include Code of Conduct (2008) and Spiritual Probation (2012). The second edition of his memoir and his new novel Trials of a Legal Junkie will be released October 6, 2026.

Stories about Merritt and his books have appeared in the New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Post, The Weekly Standard, The Times (London), The Advocate, and on CBS News and WHNS in Greenville, South Carolina.

Merritt is an advocate and speaker on LGBTQ+ rights, recovery from substance use disorder, the impacts of white Christian nationalism, and sex positivity. He lives in Palm Springs, California, where he works as a public interest lawyer and co-hosts a video podcast about these subjects.