A gay soldier’s story of Vietnam and after - Dallas Voice

Contents:

• GAY, BISEXUAL TROOPS MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER SEXUAL ASSLTS, STUDY SUGGTS
• HOW MANY GAY SOLDIERS ARE THERE?
• ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
• "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
• THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE GAY SOLDIERS WHO SERVED THE FIRST WORLD WAR
• A GAY SOLDIER’S STORY OF VIETNAM AND AFTER
• THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY

GAY, BISEXUAL TROOPS MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER SEXUAL ASSLTS, STUDY SUGGTS

Gay, lbian and bisexual service members may be signifintly more likely to suffer sexual asslts the ary than heterosexual troops, a new Rand Corp. Rand said about 43% of all ary sexual asslts over the prr year were mted agast troops who are gay, lbian and bisexual, or who otherwise did not dite they are heterosexual, although they make up about 12% of the active-duty force, acrdg to a 2018 Defense Department survey. The difference between sexual asslt rat for gay or bisexual men, as opposed to heterosexual men, was even more stark, Rand said.

HOW MANY GAY SOLDIERS ARE THERE?

7% of gay or bisexual men -- ne tim the rate of LGB men -- had been sexually asslted. The data llected the Pentagon's 2018 Workplace and Genr Relatns Survey of Active Duty Members suggts that there may be about 43, 000 gay or bisexual men and about 29, 000 lbian or bisexual women the active-duty ary, out of nearly 1. The 2018 survey found that 4% of servicemen, and 14% of servicewomen, intified as gay, lbian or bisexual.

Wh so many gay, lbian or bisexual troops uniform, and such a disproportnate percentage of that populatn experiencg sexual asslts, Rand said the data suggts that "a nsirable actn" of sexual asslts are likely beg mted agast LGB service members. To try to prevent asslts on gay, lbian and bisexual troops, Rand said the ary needs to do more to unrstand where they are occurrg and what is motivatg the attackers.

There uld be one gay Soldier, ten gay Soldiers, or two hundred thoand gay Soldiers currently servg and should not change the Army one b. The Uned Stat Army affords gay Soldiers protectn unr the Equal Opportuny Program.

ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS

Tammy Smh, the ary’s hight-rankg openly gay officer, me out 2012, she has tried beg an example of livg thentilly while also beg a bean of visibily to other Soldiers and their fai. The policy banned lbians, gay men and bisexuals om servg the ary. It terrified her to e out as gay such a public way, but she felt a rponsibily to do , she said.

"COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS

As difficult as was for her, g out publicly as gay “may not have been as easy for someone who was at a lower rank, ” Smh said an terview last week. “When I me durg the 80s, thgs were different for women and gay people, and now 2021, the societal l are different aga.

“People mt fd fort and ph back some of that ternalized homophobia, and build a b on the journey between hont and thentic.

Gay and Lbian soldiers faced extraordary discrimatn durg World War II. Liebman and more than 9, 000 Amerin servicemembers, however, eventually were given a Sectn 8 "blue discharge" for beg homosexual.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE GAY SOLDIERS WHO SERVED THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The 1994 documentary Comg Out Unr Fire giv voice to the experienc of thoands of gay and lbian servicemembers who joed the ary durg World War II, a story that is largely ignored by historians and mms across the untry. In 1993, the Uned Stat was batg the discrimatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regardg homosexuals the morn ary.

At the time, homosexualy was classified as a mental illns by the medil muny; mental illns was one ndn that disqualified young people om service. Gay and lbian recs were forced to answer qutns vaguely, or lie about their sexualy, orr to be allowed to serve; otherwise, they would n the risk of beg sent home and brand as “sex perverts. By the middle of the war, the ary sought new ways to target and expel homosexuals.

Instead of chargg dividuals wh sodomy, a urt-martialed offense, the ary began intifyg spected homosexuals as psychopaths. Such a move created an efficient system of discrimatn and prosecutn of homosexual members of the ary. We were gay.

A GAY SOLDIER’S STORY OF VIETNAM AND AFTER

Dpe the threat of persecutn, gay and lbian servicemembers thrived durg World War II. The new iendships gave gay and lbian GIs refuge om the hostily that surround them and allowed for a distct subculture to velop wh the ary.

Servicemembers on every waront enjoyed drag show entertament; an entire gay lexin was veloped om the wrgs of Dorothy Parker; and eventually an unrground queer newspaper emerged. Soldiers reprented female characters ary plays, and some homosexual soldiers found refuge om rigid genr rol. The irony that the ary selected two homosexuals to reprent the ial image of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was not lost on Abry.

Eisenhower signed Executive Orr 10450, which banned homosexuals om feral employment. Over 5, 000 feral employe lost their jobs over accatns of homosexualy.

THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY

The feral discrimatory actns drove LGBTQ people further to the shadows of society and embolned law enforcement and policians, who beme more vlent toward gay and lbian cizens. Patrons of the gay bar fought back and sparked a vlent uprisg that started the gay rights movement the Uned Stat.

Gay and lbian veterans of World War II beme some of the first to fight ary discrimatn and blue discharg the years followg the war.

My only hope is that anizatns around the untry m to pturg the voic of gay, lbian, and transgenr veterans and that we fd a place our history to honor their service as well. We sat down wh Sir John Dermot Turg, Alan Turg’s nephew and thor of a new book on Bletchley Park, to discs his uncle’s role pivotal role puter science and his persecutn for beg gay the 1950s. Wartime film star Patsy Kelly's most fiant act was beg an openly gay woman an hospable climate for the LGBTQIA+ muny.