As "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to an end, we sent Chris Heath to terview dozens of gay servicemen om the past and prent to fd out what life was really like as Ameri's ary stggled wh s last great inty crisis
Contents:
- BEN MCCORMACK'S SHORT FILM ABOUT A GAY ENUNTER A BATHHOE
- MY HBAND'S SECRET GAY LIFE
- THE SECRET GAY HISTORY OF AN AMERIN FRATERNY
- ‘COULDN’T BELIEVE I WAS SEEG ’: HOME MOVI OFFER RARE GLIMPSE OF GAY LIFE ST. LOUIS 1945
- TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY
BEN MCCORMACK'S SHORT FILM ABOUT A GAY ENUNTER A BATHHOE
An excerpt om Ben McCormack's 2000 short film about a gay enunter a Sydney bathhoe * secret gay encounters *
Straight men who have engaged suatnal homosexualy (such as prison or the ary), what's your story? He was terrified he’d be exposed as the lculatg bastard he is — not simply a closeted gay man ught after a rels discretn.
MY HBAND'S SECRET GAY LIFE
In volume 2 of the h In Male seri, we peek on four forbidn enunters between secret gay lovers. Liam Harkmoore sc married, straight llege profsor Rob Yaeger, while Aaron Slate tracks down tranged step-dad Jam Haton to nfs his love for the olr man. Bt buddi Alex Greene and Ty Rorick cheat on their unspectg girliends to hook up wh each other, and Liam Harkmoore nonts Alex about his cheatg ways, only to be tght the hottt lson he'll ever learn. * secret gay encounters *
Picture a 1940s gas statn that doubl as a pickup spot, plete wh clanste hetero and homosexual enunters, a trailer out back for secret renz-vo, and young, strappg men offerg their “servic” for $20 apiece. Well, not if you’ve heard of Stty the Goln Age of Hollywood, Bowers, an Illois native, arranged sexual assignatns (both gay and straight) for some of the world’s biggt stars.
THE SECRET GAY HISTORY OF AN AMERIN FRATERNY
Dozens of gay men gather for a pool party a seclud spot Hillsboro, Missouri. Home movi pture their easy affectn and reee dancg. But… * secret gay encounters *
Hollywood, once an epicenter of sexual eedom, participated “straightwashg, ” or erasg gay sir and narrativ om s history and prent. This forced gay men and women, pecially those the public eye, unrground and th brought about Stty Bowers. He garnered even more notoriety due to his iendship wh director Gee Cor, also featured Hollywood for his famed parti, rampant wh gay affairs.
Now, as an adult, I primarily intify as gay, and I feel strongly that havg those experienc durg my formative years helped shape my sexual inty.
Still, as an adult, whenever I've brought this up wh my straight (and generally gay-iendly) buddi, they whout exceptn ny ever havg had siar experienc. It is important to note that the same-sex soc-sexual behavr observed the study is distct om homosexual behavr bee s motivatn and purpose are social, said Jean-Baptiste Le, who studi primate behavr at the Universy of Lethbridge Canada and was not volved the new rearch. To be classified as te homosexual behavr, the form, motivatn and functn would all have to be sexual nature, he said.
‘COULDN’T BELIEVE I WAS SEEG ’: HOME MOVI OFFER RARE GLIMPSE OF GAY LIFE ST. LOUIS 1945
In volume 2 of the h In Male seri, we peek on four forbidn enunters between secret gay lovers. No, this is a story about thgs I saw and heard and experienced, but don’t end wh me steppg bravely forward and proudly clarg my homosexualy to the world and fdg my place .
Some of the iends did turn out to be gay, though I had no ia at the time, as they, I thk, had srcely any ia about me. Afterward, my broad-shoulred stoner iend sually told Jason that “What we did was okay, bee I heard you have to do three tim wh a guy to make you gay.
In the aterny which I belonged, a small subset of iends began referrg to the annual fall visatn of alumni as “Homog Weekend. By the time I graduated 1987, I had been through a few Homog Weekends and taken the long walk wh several of my olr aterny brothers, who would awkwardly nfs to beg gay. I was too uptight about my own sexualy and this sort of thg h entirely too close to home (homo?
TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY
But he left no doubt that he was totally gay, and ma me unfortable when he looked to my ey wh that perceptive visn of his.
“But the guy’s a homosexual, and there are guys who say they’re gog blackball him to prevent him om gettg a bid, ” I was told. And after all, if I took a strong posn on the matter, someone might assume I was gay, and I was not gog to let that happen!
Marc was about as openly gay as one uld safely be Lock Haven, Pennsylvania the early 1980s. Much later Marc would fd out I was gay too, spe my self-protective measur, and he would be very supportive, god bls him.