The Revolutnary War Hero Who Was Openly Gay | HISTORY

Contents:

• THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY
• GAY AMERIN WAR HERO WH PURPLE HEART WHO DIDN'T TELL UNLS ASKED
• FRIEDRICH VON STBEN: THE OPENLY GAY WAR HERO WHO WHIPPED THE CONTENTAL ARMY INTO SHAPE
• AN OPENLY GAY WAR HERO FOTTEN
• REMEMBERG ALAN TURG, THE GAY BRISH WAR HERO WHO DIED AFTER BEG PERSECUTED BY HIS UNTRY
• "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
• HISTORY MA HONORG OPENLY GAY REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO
• 15 SUPERHERO AND ANTI-HERO WHO ARE GAY
• SECRECY SURROUNDS SE OF GAY WAR HERO WHO TOOK CYANI
• WWII BREAKER ALAN TURG BE 1ST GAY MAN ON A BRISH BANK NOTE
• ABSOLUTE LEGENDS: THE GAY HERO OF THE BATTLE OF BRA

THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY

Historians also thk he was homosexual—and served as an openly gay man the ary at a time when sex between men was punished as a crime. Durg von Stben’s lifetime, the ncept of gay marriage, gay pri or g out was unthkable and there was no language or open culture of homosexualy.

GAY AMERIN WAR HERO WH PURPLE HEART WHO DIDN'T TELL UNLS ASKED

His ath this year, om a roadsi bomb, which took the number of Amerin loss Iraq to more than 4, 000, robbed the service of an outstandg ary telligence officer and prived his iends of someone they all scribed as a great listener and a profoundly relig Rogers was also gay.

He wasn't asked and, at least to most lleagu, he didn't tell, but the story of his stggle to balance two petg aspects of his life has moved to the heart of the bate about gay ary Rogers, raised by adoptive parents New York and Florida, joed the US Army to serve the 1991 Gulf War, and later had tours of South Korea and Iraq ahead of the 2003 vasn. He was also a Baptist preacher and is remembered as a wise unsellor to iends and men unr his Rogers' story has been adopted by gay-rights mpaigners.

"Now, mpaigners hope that the example of this dited ary man, posthumoly award a Purple Heart for his sacrifice, is givg new impet to their attempt to rip up the Clton-era policy known as don't ask, don't tell and fally to allow gays and lbians to serve openly the US ary.

FRIEDRICH VON STBEN: THE OPENLY GAY WAR HERO WHO WHIPPED THE CONTENTAL ARMY INTO SHAPE

"I thk the momentum is there now for change, " says Denny Meyer, edor of The Gay Milary Tim, an onle newsletter that advot a repeal of don't ask, don't tell. Gay people have been servg Ameri's armed forc sce the Revolutn – but Major Rogers is the first known homosexual to have been killed.

"At home Washgton, he was treasurer of the pal's chapter of Amerin Veterans for Equal Rights, which mpaigns to allow gays to serve openly, and he wrote an amic this dissectg don't ask, don't tell. But when iends mentned his sexualy lol newspaper reports after his ath, me as a surprise to former lleagu the Long, his , has joed some ary personnel to exprs displeasure that Major Rogers's story has been adopted by gay-rights mpaigners.

Activists, though, say that is precisely by highlightg the sacrific of gay servicemen and women that they will be able eventually to w the battle to be acrd the same rights to be open about their sexualy as straight week's hearg before the Hoe of Reprentativ Armed Servic Personnel Sub-mtee was attend by Eric Alva, an Iraq veteran wh a Purple Heart who was the first US soldier to be jured durg the vasn. It was enacted by Print Bill Clton 1993, as a way of “liftg” the ban on homosexual service members that was put place after World War II.

AN OPENLY GAY WAR HERO FOTTEN

In an era before gay marriage or open pri, ary men fell love, formed passnate iendships and had same-sex enunters same-sex enunters. This is a long overdue regnn of Baron von Stben by the LGBTQ muny and is spearhead by longtime Lato/gay activist and San Diego Cy Commissner Nile Murray Ramirez, who also anized and chaired the succsful 2016 natnal letter-wrg mpaign to then-Secretary of the Navy Ray Mab to name a vsel after gay civil rights in Harvey Milk.

Historians believe that von Stben served as an openly gay man the Revolutnary War at a time when sex between men was punishable as a crime. Durg his lifetime, the ncept of gay marriage was unthkable and there was no language or culture of homosexualy, although same-sex relatnships were mon. This was a mon practice among gay men an age before same-sex marriage and they lived together until von Stben died 1794 and both hered his tate.

For more about von Stben’s ntributn to the Uned Stat ary operatns durg the Amerin Revolutn and what historians believe about his homosexualy, vis. Many of our LGBTQ service members have given their liv for , like one of the first gay ary hero, Litenant Colonel John Lrens, who served durg the Amerin Revolutn. Another episo the annals of people risg up fense of mory rights: the rints of a town Oregon band together to put up a giant gay pri flag after the Newberg School Board voted to ban all “polil speech” om s schools, cludg such “divisive symbols” as gay pri flags and Black Liv Matter signs.

REMEMBERG ALAN TURG, THE GAY BRISH WAR HERO WHO DIED AFTER BEG PERSECUTED BY HIS UNTRY

”A earlier, the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” allowed gays and lbians to serve openly after centuri of hidg, persecutn and dishonorable, we salute some of the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer service members who paved the way for a more clive force. But In 1763, at 33, Stben was unceremonly discharged “unr a cloud, hound by accatns of havg relatns wh young men, ” acrdg to The Gay and Lbian Review.

C., and the Stben Para, held each September down New York’s Fifth KamenyFrank Kameny Kennedy / Tribune News Service via Getty ImagOne of the Foundg Fathers of the morn gay rights movement, Frank Kameny enlisted the Army 1943, servg Europe throughout World War II. After the war, he earned a doctorate at Harvard Universy and tght astronomy at Geetown Universy, In 1957, Kameny had jt started workg for the Army Map Service, wh hop of beg an astront, when he was termated after vtigators unvered evince he was a, then 32, appealed the firg, argug that flatly labelg gay people a secury risk was “no ls od than discrimatn based upon relig or racial grounds.

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

The jtic refed to hear the appeal, but marked the first time the high urt even nsired a civil rights se based on sexual orientatn — and galvanized Kameny to beg a lifelong activist for equaly for gays and years later, 1965, Kameny, Kay Tob and Barbara Gtgs started the Annual Remrs, the first anized picket protts for gay rights Ameri, held at Philalphia’s Inpennce Hall. In the 1970s, Kameny bee the first openly gay ndidate for Congrs and challenged the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn’s diagnosis of homosexualy as a mental disorr, acrdg to a 2015 Department of Labor 2009, the U. Wh urage and strength, you fought back, ” said OPM Director John Berry, himself an out gay man, the Washgton Post December 2010, Kameny was ved to the Whe Hoe to wns Print Barack Obama sign the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” to law.

”Fannie Mae Clackum Though ls well known than Kameny, Clackum beme the first service member to succsfully challenge a ary discharge on the grounds of homosexualy.

HISTORY MA HONORG OPENLY GAY REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO

”While the lg Clackum’s favor turned on due procs, rather than a rejectn of the ban on gays the ary, was the first time the Armed Forc had to answer for attacks on LGBTQ service MilkHarvey Milk outsi his mera shop San Francis 1977.

That ugly dismissal cut Milk loose to pursue other terts — he tght high school on Long Island, worked at an surance firm and Wall Street brokerage New York Cy and ultimately opened a mera shop on Castro Street San Francis, where his activist reer began was one of the first openly gay elected officials the U. Although there's no way to know every lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr hero through the centuri, we do know about some -- even as far back history as ancient 's our list of 16 (and, well, a few more) LGBT hero who ma the world a better place through acts of urage and serve to be remembered for their SippleIn many ways, the life story of Oliver Sipple, a gay former Mare who saved the life of Print Gerald R. Afterward, his parents and brother, who lived the Detro area, were tnted about Sipple's homosexualy by fellow General Motors factory workers as well as their neighbors.

15 SUPERHERO AND ANTI-HERO WHO ARE GAY

He acknowledged this impact his 2014 terview wh Sports Illtrated: "It has been 18 exhilaratg months sce I me out Sports Illtrated as the first openly gay man one of the four major profsnal team sports. It feels wonrful to have been part of the ton for sports and for gay rights, and to have been embraced by the public, the ach, the players, the league and history.

SECRECY SURROUNDS SE OF GAY WAR HERO WHO TOOK CYANI

He also beme sympathetic to the e of Irish experts on the history of the Irish Natnalist Revolt of 1916 -- also lled the Easter Risg, which led to the executn of surrectnist lears cludg Sir Roger -- say was as much his well-known homosexualy as was his foc on helpg raise awarens about the exploed peopl of Bra's far-flung loni that led to his ath by hangg. "Male historians' opns about her personal life notwhstandg, there's not an argument to be ma that the Lady Wh the Lamp saved untls liv her time and beyond bee of her revolutnary nursg and battlefield-medice acumen based on hygiene, empiril evince, and brgg humany to the healg ZeroloSpa's versn of gay civil rights in Harvey Milk may very well be Pedro Zerolo. Leonard Matlovich had hoped would happen, when he offered up his heroilly distguished ary reer -- a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and numero other wartime honors earned Vietnam -- by g out publicly as gay 1975.

McGill beme famo for g his shirt to stanch bleedg om bullet wounds, while stctg others to do June The Advote published the stori of all 49 people whose liv were taken by mented gunman whose motiv appear to have n the gamut, cludg ternalized homophobia, relig extremism, and outright KfmanDaniel Kfman, 42, was one of 14 people killed when hband and wife Syed Farook and Tafsheen Malik opened fire at the Inland Regnal Center San Bernardo, Calif. "Hans SchollHans Scholl's impish bety radiat fiantly even today om the black-and-whe 1930s and '40s snapshots that survived after the Nazi ernment behead him for beg one among a rare classifitn of hero: Germans who rebelled agast the Nazi by a fascist urt for the "crime" of homosexualy and later for treason, Scholl was only 23 when he was executed by guillote. She is for many reasons the prototypil AIDS regiver-activist om a bygone an dividual basis, Jter was there to take re of the personal needs for the sick gay man whose folks back home were not ready to accept a sudn g-out om their gay son, much ls a g-out wh a sibar of, "And by the way, I'm dyg of an AIDS-related illns.

For those participants who were born post-1985 the bt way I uld scribe those dark days is to say that AIDS the '80s was the 'gay muny's 9/11' and we were at the center of ground zero.

WWII BREAKER ALAN TURG BE 1ST GAY MAN ON A BRISH BANK NOTE

It is impossible to speak of Turg’s achievements and legacy whout also mentng the btal, stutnalised homophobia that saw him persecuted as a gay man and ultimately cut his life short. Four years on, 2014, on Turg was granted a posthumo royal pardon, and 2017 a law was passed his name allowg thoands of men nvicted of historil gay sex offenc to apply for a formal pardon. 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.

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. 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.

ABSOLUTE LEGENDS: THE GAY HERO OF THE BATTLE OF BRA

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. 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.