"Comg Out Unr Fire": The Story of Gay and Lbian Servicemembers | The Natnal WWII Mm | New Orleans

Contents:

• THE HISTORY OF GAY CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS, ALISON BECHL THE ‘NEW YORKER’, AND MORE LGBT NEWS
• THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY
• ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
• "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
• GAY RIGHTS
• TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY

THE HISTORY OF GAY CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS, ALISON BECHL THE ‘NEW YORKER’, AND MORE LGBT NEWS

C., signalg the war’s begng, s gay Conferate and Unn soldiers didn’t have to worry about the morn famo DADT policy, which blatantly discrimated agast gay, lbian and bisexual servicemembers. ” And “un hn, ” the big battleground issue durg the fight to repeal DADT which posed that the “homosexual gaze” would be the root e for disptn (which was totally bunked by a 2002 study), was not an issue. But the qutn, some would argue, of who were LGBTQ service members and who weren’t the Amerin Civil War is a disgenuo query sce the words “homosexual” and “heterosexual” weren’t part of the Amerin lexin until thirty years after the war end.

However, many would also argue that not havg a word like “homosexual” back the day of the Civil War to pict same-sex attractn among soldiers do not negate our e of to scribe them this prent day. Usg archival documents such as urt-martial and medil rerds, newspaper articl, pornographic books and rds, and letters and diari of the soldiers, Lowry’s foc was to addrs the problem of prostutn – straight and gay – and why both the Unn and Conferate Armi had to work to stop sexually transmted fectns om cripplg their soldiers, bee STIs were stg more soldier’s health and liv than actn on the battlefield.

Now that same sex marriag and homosexual rights groups prsurg for equal rights, should e as no surprise that the people should attempt to gra the nam of famo Civil War hero an attempt to better their own e.

THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY

This along wh the fact that he beme toxited and hugged a man that he said he'd shared blankets wh durg the Mexin War (see Patrick Cleburne above) got him pated today as a homosexual.

ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS

When shots were fired om Fort Sumter, a fortifitn near Charlton, S.C., signalg the war’s begng, s gay Conferate and Unn soldiers didn’t have to worry about the morn famo DADT policy, which blatantly discrimated agast gay, lbian and bisexual servicemembers.

Some queer Civil War buffs would argue that none were dishonorably discharged – although, there is rerd of three pairs of Navy sailors urt-martialed for “improper and cent terurse wh each other.” And “un hn,” the big battleground issue durg the fight to repeal DADT which posed that the “homosexual gaze” would be the root e for disptn (which was totally bunked by a 2002 study), was not an issue.

"The story of GLBT don't start wh Queer as Folk, " says Ang, an assistant profsor of stud art at Maryville Universy St., who is gay, beme terted cross-drsg Civil War soldiers after happeng upon a few imag of women who prented as male orr to fight the nflict. "Even though the inty of eher a gay male or a lbian or a bisexual or a trans person did not exist at this time, they did exist, " says the photos, which he prevly exhibed at his universy and hop to take to LGBT centers around the natn, he seeks to regnize the soldiers as pneers the movements for women's and LGBT equaly. Ang not that if there had been a ncept of gay male inty at the time, she and her hband would have appeared to be a gay uple; men uld be openly affectnate and even sexual wh each other, and such activy was labeled bad behavr rather that an ditor of a person's inty.

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

After beg ptured separate battl 1861 and put prisoner of war mps—William Upham was sent south to Libby Prison, Richmond, Virgia, and Lewis Gay north to Fort Delaware, near Wilmgton—both were released the next year a prisoner exchange that swapped Unn soldiers for treatment as prisoners, they both said, was humane at this early stage the war— ntrast to the horrors that happened later on notor plac like Anrsonville, southwt Geia. 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 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.

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. 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.

GAY RIGHTS

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. 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.

The Early Gay Rights Movement In 1924, Henry Gerber, a German immigrant, found Chigo the Society for Human Rights, the first documented gay rights anizatn the Uned Stat. Army service World War I, Gerber was spired to create his anizatn by the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee, a “homosexual emancipatn” group ’s small group published a few issu of s newsletter “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter. Ernment signated Gerber’s Chigo hoe a Natnal Historic Pk TriangleCorbis/Getty ImagHomosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, gay rights movement stagnated for the next few s, though LGBT dividuals around the world did e to the spotlight a few example, English poet and thor Radclyffe Hall stirred up ntroversy 1928 when she published her lbian-themed novel, The Well of Lonels.

TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY

Addnally, 1948, his book Sexual Behavr the Human Male, Aled Ksey proposed that male sexual orientatn li on a ntuum between exclively homosexual to exclively Homophile Years In 1950, Harry Hay found the Mattache Foundatn, one of the natn’s first gay rights group.

”Though started off small, the foundatn, which sought to improve the liv of gay men through discsn groups and related activi, expand after foundg member Dale Jenngs was arrted 1952 for solicatn and then later set ee due to a adlocked the end of the year, Jenngs formed another anizatn lled One, Inc., which weled women and published ONE, the untry’s first pro-gay magaze. Post Office, which 1954 clared the magaze “obscene” and refed to liver Mattache Society Mattache Foundatn members rtctured the anizatn to form the Mattache Society, which had lol chapters other parts of the untry and 1955 began publishg the untry’s send gay publitn, The Mattache Review. That same year, four lbian upl San Francis found an anizatn lled the Dghters of Bilis, which soon began publishg a newsletter lled The Ladr, the first lbian publitn of any early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn listed homosexualy as a form of mental disorr followg year, Print Dwight D.