Our life 17 photos: A gay sailor’s love story | Freedom to Marry

Contents:

• WHEN GAY SAILOR WAS OUTED, HE FOUND HIS NAVY BUDDI HAD HIS BACK
• SD CONFINTIAL: INSI A LOST GAY PAST OF ‘FAIRY DIV,’ RAIDS AND A FALLEN ADMIRAL
• "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
• THE GAY MARRIAG OF A NETEENTH-CENTURY PRISON SHIP
• HELLO SAILOR!: THE HIDN HISTORY OF GAY LIFE AT SEA
• RACG TO PRERVE THE HISTORY OF MAE’S 1ST GAY RIGHTS ANIZATN
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT COACH KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY AFTER COMG OUT AS GAY
• TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY

WHEN GAY SAILOR WAS OUTED, HE FOUND HIS NAVY BUDDI HAD HIS BACK

Rictor Norton, at his webse Homosexualy Eighteenth-Century England, has llected an imprsive number of primary sourc, though few reference sailors. Somethg that be clear Norton's work is that there was ltle or no legal distctn at the time between those who engaged a sgle same-sex act, those who were exclively homosexual, and anyone who fell between.

In his A Queer History of the Uned Stat, Michael Bronski pots out that the very term 'homosexual' wasn't vented until 1869 'to help nstct a narrative around a person fed by his or her same-sex sexual sir and actns. We nnot say that sailors who engaged homosexual acts intified as homosexual, nor n we say that others fed them as such before they were nvicted.

SD CONFINTIAL: INSI A LOST GAY PAST OF ‘FAIRY DIV,’ RAIDS AND A FALLEN ADMIRAL

Brish society believed that a lack of accs to women gave rise to homosexualy, and there was perhaps no place the eighteenth century so exclively male as the navy.

' Today we would regnize the facts as irrelevant to the act self, but eighteenth century law, a sgle homosexual act was equated wh beg exclively homosexual.

Rodger argued his book The Woon World: An Anatomy of the Geian Navy that acts of homosexualy were not as mon the mid-eighteenth century Royal Navy as many assume:. Consirg that the navy oped up thoands of young men for months on end whout accs to women, is surprisg how few homosexual cints rulted prosecutn.

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

Wh the threat of ath hangg over their heads, the unlikelihood of fdg a man wh the same sexual clatns, and the very real chance of tectn, even those men wh homosexual leangs faced many obstacl to actually engagg the act. For what n be seen as a victim-ls crime (at least s of nsensual homosexual acts) officers would unrstandably be reluctant to prosecute seafarers. Rodger argu that homosexualy and homosexual acts were almost entirely absent the navy and treated wh difference, while Gilbert believed to be unmon but unniably prent and treated wh dranian btaly.

He believed that fear of beg pated as a homosexual stutn motivated officers to be overzealo punishments when they were forced to nont them urt. [20] Stark agre wh Gilbert: 'Englishmen, unlike other European men, did not approve of any show of affectn between men, ' bee 'a male homosexual was a threat to the very ncept of malens.

Gilbert and Stark, on the other hand, thought that officers feared a perceptn by the general public of the Royal Navy as an herently homosexual stutn. '[23] Hawks' anecdote supports Gilbert's argument that homosexualy was wily feared the Navy, but is the only reference I've e across yet that even impli homosexualy throughout the urse of the Sailors' Memoirs Project. Both Gilbert and Rodger agree that homosexual acts were treated as a crime that rried an unually harsh punishment, and for this reason was sometim overlooked.

THE GAY MARRIAG OF A NETEENTH-CENTURY PRISON SHIP

This mak the task of exhumg the prevalence of, and attus toward homosexualy exceedgly difficult and sometim, the words of Gilbert, 'impossible. This past sprg, bat trag before my ployment to Afghanistan, someone found out I was gay, walked up to me and said, "I'm glad I'm not ployg wh you, I wouldn't tst a fag wh my life.

HELLO SAILOR!: THE HIDN HISTORY OF GAY LIFE AT SEA

I distctly remember one day when an stctor said, "Oh look at those faggots, " and then turned to sayg, "Wa, 's OK to be gay, YOU jt n't be gay. I feared I would be rejected by people I once was iends wh, terrified that the learship above me would look at me as ls of a man, or that any acplishment I have will be attributed to me beg gay, and not my mer. Tro1 Sailor Jack: the Other Si; Chapter 1 When Queer was Covert; Chapter 2 A Place of Freedom; Chapter 3 Speakg Gay Secrets; Chapter 4 Sea Wiv and Meat Racks; Chapter 5 Sequs, Sat and Stilettos; Chapter 6 Ho Land!

In 1952, the thors of an overheated btseller lled “USA Confintial” promised to blow the lid off the natn’s praved triumvirate of Communists, labor unns and gays. As the annual LGBT pri para and ftival approach this weekend, here are five surprisg facts about San Diego’s gay world before the Stonewall uprisg, the seri of New York Cy protts 1969 that birthed the morn fight for LGBT rights.

The well-rpected 1990 book “Comg Out Unr Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women World War II” says so-lled “rough bars” San Diego, like Blue Jacket and Bradley’s, “tered to enlisted men of many rac, gay civilians and ‘tra’ (enlisted men and workg-class civilian men willg to go wh gay men).

RACG TO PRERVE THE HISTORY OF MAE’S 1ST GAY RIGHTS ANIZATN

Whatever the se, many of them chose to stay San Diego, part of a wave of service members who transformed ci like San Francis, New York Cy and Los Angel to even bigger hot spots of gay culture. As thor Lillian Farman chronicl her 2015 book “The Gay Revolutn: The Story of the Stggle, ” big nam the lol civic world spoke Hooper’s fense at his urt martial, and a psychiatrist said he wasn’t gay.

“The drks were watered down, and the plac were not attractive, ” said Frank Nobiletti, a historian of gay San Diego, a 2011 terview wh me for KPBS. A few years later, the Brass Rail moved to Fifth and Robson and, as the Rear puts , “may have been the talyst for Hillcrt’s birth as San Diego’s gay district. “[World War II] properly marks the begng of the natn’s, and San Francis’s, morn gay history, ” wrote historian John D’E his book “Makg Trouble: Essays on Gay History, Polics, and the Universy.

Until 1973, homosexualy was still diagnosed as a mental health disorr when the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn removed om the send edn of s Diagnostic Statistil Manual (also known as DSM 2). “By uprootg an entire generatn, the war helped channel urban gay life to a particular path of growth—away om stable private works and toward public mercial tablishments, ” wrote lol historian Allan Bébé, his book “Comg Out Unr Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women World War II. For those still servg the ary, livg as—or beg emed as—a homosexual earned you a discharge, more monly known as a “blue ticket” or “blue discharge.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT COACH KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY AFTER COMG OUT AS GAY

“Ironilly, the creasg harassment of gay men and lbians the armed servic, cludg the e of the notor, unsirable ‘blue’ discharg, helped to build a sense of muny among s victims, ” Bebe wrote “Comg Out Unr Fire.

TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY

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.

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. 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.