A Brief History of Gay Milary Policy and Improvg Acceptance, Integratn and Health among LGBT Service Members | USC Social Work

Contents:

• ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS
• I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK
• TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY
• U.S. MILARY ENDS POLICY BANNG OPENLY GAY AMERINS FROM SERVICE
• US ARY IS POSTG GAY PRI RABOWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR PRI MONTH – HERE ARE THE PICS
• I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.
• US ARMY GAY
• ISSUE REPORT: GAYS THE US ARY
• RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
• PM'S APOLOGY FOR PAST GAY BAN WELED BY SHROPSHIRE VETERAN
• YOUNG AND LONELY: WHY SOME MILARY MEN REALLY FEAR LGBT PEOPLE AND GAY SEX
• GAY, BISEXUAL TROOPS MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER SEXUAL ASSLTS, STUDY SUGGTS
• IN 1994, THE U.S. MILARY ACTUALLY CONSIRED BUILDG A “GAY BOMB”
• PRINT NOMAT FIRST OPENLY GAY ARMY SECRETARY
• US ARY LIFTS BAN ON OPENLY GAY TROOPS

ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS

I was one of few soldiers who joed the service before graduatg high school, but the admistratn at the time, which I believe was homophobic, chose to act as if I never existed bee of my queer hate that I experienced growg up on Long Island was my first enunter wh how others would treat me as a queer soldier. ”The Army has been makg a staed effort to appeal to more diverse groups recent years, wh LGBT+, ethnic mory groups, and women remag severely unrreprented wh s ranks, particularly high-level om 2011 have openly gay, lbian, and bisexual people been permted to serve the US ary.

"I remember beg the Castro, " says John Forrett (army rerve, 1987–99), "and watchg the TV at a bar wh some iends, watchg Al Gore and Bill Clton swearg that if they beme the tag team for Ameri they were gog to get rid of the harassment of gays and lbians servg the ary. Of a number of latg events—Rocha was also force-fed dog food and locked to a sh-filled dog kennel—the most abive and explicly homophobic was when he was orred by his manr to act a dog-trag scenar, repeated over and over so that every dog the un uld be n through . Life Seventy Years Ago as a Gay Serviceman: World War IIIt was only really around the Send World War that ary discrimatn beme dified and anized, and that the foc moved om simply sanctns agast homosexual acts to an attempt to intify and weed out homosexual tennci—though, as would be seen aga and aga, when fightg bodi were need badly enough, such ncerns would often evaporate.

"While he was ployed, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a mpaigng group who had been givg him guidance, told him that 60 Mut wanted to do a piece about an openly gay man servg a bat zone, persuadg him that would give a voice to the "65, 000 men and women the ary" who weren’t able to live as openly as he was. ’" The way he sometim jtified to himself what he did was that was a rponse to the ary’s homophobia, albe an extreme one: "I would feel very angry at the policy, and beme ’Well, fuck you, Mare Corps—I’m gog to do this and be as gay as I want to be for the world to see. Some likely post-repeal plitns: ristant pockets of homophobia the ary; the ntued right to voice certa homophobic sentiments unr, for stance, the eedom of relig exprsn; possible aternizatn charg if gay servicemen of different ranks ntue to associate wh each other as they often did the silent years; growg disquiet at the absence of partner rights equivalent to those for servicemen’s wiv.

I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK

Naval Hospal Rota Spa posted a Pri graphic created by the Milary Health System, and said, “The Defense Health Agency (DHA) regniz the work of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr Amerins tablishg a ee natn that valu diversy, a val ponent of a ee natn.

— N6 (@SignHexa) May 12, 2021 The CIA has released a siar seri of recment ads over the last several months as part of a seri dubbed “Humans of CIA, ” cludg ads featurg an agent who scribed herself as a “cisgenr lennial, ” a man who “[grew] up gay a small Southern town, ” and a bld employee who talks about the agency’s ph to “create a more clive environment. Her discharge om the ary over her homosexualy had turned her to an Tob/The New York Public LibraryPublished July 19, 2023Updated July 23, 2023Lilli Vcenz, who beme a gay rights activist the hhed, reprsive era before the Stonewall rebelln of 1969, when such a ncept srcely existed, makg a mark as a newspaper edor, documentary filmmaker and psychotherapist voted to L.

TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY

Vicenz beme, by most acunts, the first lbian to picket the Whe Hoe support of equal rights for gay people as a member of the Mattache Society of Washgton, an early gay rights prott — the first of s kd, acrdg to the Library of Congrs — and others that followed were small but brought visibily to a movement s fancy.

U.S. MILARY ENDS POLICY BANNG OPENLY GAY AMERINS FROM SERVICE

Vcenz beme the first out lbian to appear on the ver of a natnal gay magaze, The Ladr, a publitn produced by the untry’s first lbian-rights group, the Dghters of Bilis, acrdg to a retrospective on her life and reer by Lillian Farman, a historian of lbian and gay her scbbed, all-Amerin looks, Dr.

US ARY IS POSTG GAY PRI RABOWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR PRI MONTH – HERE ARE THE PICS

Vcenz looked like “every mother’s dream dghter, ” as Barbara Gtgs, The Ladr’s edor, put Vcenz also ntributed to the e on the other si of a mera, makg two 16-limeter films that were later hailed as signifint artifacts of the early gay rights first, tled “The Send-Largt Mory, ” documents a Mattache Society prott ont of Inpennce Hall Philalphia on July 4, morn ey, the black-and-whe film, roughly seven mut, seems anythg but seismic. But by then was hard to ignore the anxiety I felt durg required social activi — “mandatory fun, ” as ’s lled the ary — or the tensn om my fellow moment I cid to bee a soldier and the moment I chose to live openly as a gay man occurred so closely time that ’s hard to remember which me first.

Every memory evok an emotn: rage that I had to serve wh a nstant sense of fear of my fellow soldiers; paralyzg sadns for those who endured ab worse than I n know; and, the worst, guilt over the service members — gay or straight or transgenr — who died while servg the ary while my body is still whole.

I THOUGHT I COULD SERVE AS AN OPENLY GAY MAN THE ARMY. THEN CAME THE DEATH THREATS.

Ameri’s alli, cludg the Uned Kgdom, Canada, Israel, and Atralia, allow openly gay, lbian, and bisexual persons to serve the ary, and this has no adverse effect on ary reads or disciple (Belk, 2001, 2003; Belk & Bateman, 2003; Belk & Levt, 2001; Belk & McNichol, 2001). Consistent wh a long-standg body of social psychology rearch based on Allport’s (1954) ntact hypothis, scientists have repeatedly found evince for rced prejudice levels toward gay, lbian or bisexual people among heterosexuals who are acquated wh openly gay, lbian or bisexual members of society (e.

The thors of a prehensive recent meta-analysis of the last six s of rearch this area monstrate that the rrelatn of ntact between heterosexuals and gay and lbian persons wh lower levels of sexual prejudice is signifintly higher than prejudice rctn lked to ntact wh any other target group, e. The percentage of ary service members strongly opposed to allowg gay and lbian persons serve the ary has cled nsirably over the last , wh only 5% of personnel the ary a 2006 poll statg that they are “very unfortable” teractg wh gay and lbian persons the ary, ntrasted wh 73% who were somewhat or very fortable this regard (Zogby et al., 2006). “No longer will our untry be nied the service of thoands of patrtic Amerins who were forced to leave the ary – regardls of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance – bee they happen to be gay, ” said former Print Barack Obama.

US ARMY GAY

“That is why I say to all Amerins, gay or straight, who want nothg more than to fend this untry uniform: Your untry needs you, your untry wants you, and we will be honored to wele you to the ranks of the ft ary the world has ever known, ” stated Obama. The US ary is now acceptg gay recs the armed forc, a spokwoman has said after a feral judge stck down a ban on homosexuals servg openly the ary will tell potential recs that a law barrg openly gay members -- known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" -- uld still be restated pendg on the oute of pe... Unls one of the exceptns to the law appli, the policy prohibs anyone who “monstrate(s) a propensy or tent to engage homosexual acts” om servg the armed forc of the Uned Stat, bee “would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good orr and disciple, and un hn that are the sence of ary pabily.

A 2006 Zogby Internatnal poll of ary members found that 72% of rponnts who had experience wh gays or lbians their un said that the prence of gay or lbian un members had eher no impact or a posive impact on their personal morale, while 67% said as much for overall un morale.

ISSUE REPORT: GAYS THE US ARY

’44 In a survey of over 100 experts om Atralia, Canada, Israel, and the Uned Kgdom, was found that all agreed the cisn to lift the ban on homosexuals had no impact on ary performance, reads, hn, or abily to rec or reta, nor did crease the HIV rate among troops. ) prohibs anyone who “monstrate(s) a propensy or tent to engage homosexual acts’ om servg the armed forc of the Uned Stat, for the followg central reason: “One of the most cril elements bat pabily is un hn, that is, the bonds of tst among dividual service members that make the bat effectivens of a ary un greater than the sum of the bat effectivens of the dividual un members....

RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN

’ om the uniformed servic enlistment applitn form (‘don’t ask’); asserted that open admissn of homosexualy or homosexual nduct were a basis for discharge (‘don’t tell’); and charged ary lears not to pursue spected homosexuals whout clear evince of nduct or open admissns. “When beme law 1993, the policy was sold as an attempt to allow gays to serve if they did not discs their orientatn or participate homosexual acts—that is, if they lived a life of pretense and self-nial not required of straight unterparts.

Many gay members of the ary make the followg argument as to why is illogil that homosexuals would choose: “I wish I uld ci who I fell love wh; if someone thks I would nscly choose such a life where I am forced to live hidg and fear, knowg the bulk of the populatn is agast you, is jt crazy. Dixon Osburn, who heads the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a gay advocy group Washgton, said March 2007, “General Pace1s ments are outrageo, sensive and disrpectful to the 65, 000 lbian and gay troops now servg our armed forc. Promisg the ernment would implement the “vast majory” of Etherton’s remendatns, Wallace said he would fully update the Commons a formal bate about the issue after the about pensatn, Wallace said he hoped to fd “an elegant solutn that match the need and the requirements of those dividuals”, promisg to set this out after Kelly Holm, who served the army and me out as gay last year, was among mpaigners who weled the apology.

PM'S APOLOGY FOR PAST GAY BAN WELED BY SHROPSHIRE VETERAN

Image source, Emma RileyImage ptn, Rad operator Emma Riley was discharged om the Navy for beg a lbian the 1990sRishi Sunak has apologised for the historil treatment of LGBT veterans who were sacked or forced out of the ary for beg PM lled the ban an "appallg failure" of the Brish was illegal to be gay the Brish ary until 2000 - wh thoands of veterans thought to be affected.

Acrdg to the report, the Mistry of Defence said at the time that jtifitn for the policy clud "matenance of operatnal effectivens and efficiency" - but the report said there had been an "prehensible policy of homophobic bigotry" the armed forc.

It heard shockg acunts of homophobia, bullyg, blackmail, sexual asslts, "disgraceful" medil examatns, and nversn mak 49 remendatns to the ernment cludg:Affected veterans to be given an "appropriate fancial reward" pped at £50m overallThe rtoratn of medals that had to be hand back on dismissal or dischargeThe clarifitn of pensn rights The prentatn of a special veterans' badgeThe ernment said would rpond full after summer of the veterans affected watched the PM's public of them, Emma Riley, 51, was a Royal Navy rad operator for three years before she was arrted and discharged for beg a lbian after tellg a lleague her sexualy the early told BBC News she weled the report, and hoped would be put to place "swiftly.

YOUNG AND LONELY: WHY SOME MILARY MEN REALLY FEAR LGBT PEOPLE AND GAY SEX

"Olympian Dame Kelly Holm, who served the army and me out as gay last year, lled the publitn of the report a "historic moment", while Cathere Dixon, a former army officer who is now vice chair at Stonewall, said was "an important step towards jtice" for those whose ary reers were "ed" bee of their sexualy.

Many still have a crimal rerd to this also tails how some veterans faced a plete loss of e, while others were emed eligible to claim their pensn bee of their report more than 20 years after four servicemen and women, who were sacked for beg gay, won a se the European Court of Human Rights and overturned the armed forc chary Royal Brish Legn lled on the ernment to accept the report's remendatns chary's director general Charl Byrne weled both the report and Mr Sunak's "landmark apology", sayg many people who had dited their liv to the untry were "forced or felt prsured to leave the armed forc, and this mistreatment stroyed or shortened their reer".

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

Veterans’ ttimoni “give shockg evince of a culture of homophobia, and of bullyg, blackmail and sexual asslts, abive vtigatns to sexual orientatn and sexual preference, disgraceful medil examatns, cludg nversn therapy, ” the report said. “From a personal pot of view, the ban affected me terms of who I was and what I uldn’t be for 34 years, ” Holm ban on homosexualy was abandoned 2000, when the European Court of Human Rights led favor of four service personnel who were vtigated and then discharged bee of their sexualy. Ms Macdonald said she had been ma to feel "shame" the 40 years Sunak ma the statement Parliament after a report to service personnel's treatment remend they be given a fancial reward and the PM should publicly lled the ban an "appallg failure" of the Brish was illegal to be gay the Brish ary until 2000 and Ms Macdonald was one of thoands of veterans thought to be ptn, Ms Macdonald joed at 19 and was a lance rporal the Women's Royal Army CorpsAfter hearg the statement, Ms Macdonald told BBC Rad Shropshire she had "lots of different emotns" and add: "It's such a historic day and 42 years on I never, ever dreamed that this would happen.

But no solutn n do more than paper over an unfortable realy of life the trench: that the male bondg so prized by ary manrs—the willgns to die for one's buddi—n engenr another kd of closens as GIs regnize homosexual leangs for the first time the all-male surroundgs. "Part of is the ia that, 'Maybe [gays] are seeg somethg me that I don't want to adm is me, " says Universy of Mississippi psychologist Dan Landis, who has worked wh the ary on equal-opportuny matters over the past 20 ary exalts masculy ways that are ankly or implicly sexual. 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.

IN 1994, THE U.S. MILARY ACTUALLY CONSIRED BUILDG A “GAY BOMB”

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. The gay bomb would be a cloud of gas that would be discharged over enemy mps “that ntaed a chemil that would e enemy soldiers to bee gay, and to have their uns break down bee all their soldiers beme irristibly attractive to one another.

PRINT NOMAT FIRST OPENLY GAY ARMY SECRETARY

Dpe the drawbacks, for their work such an novative field, the rearchers who nceptualized the gay bomb were award the Ig Nobel Prize, a parody award which celebrat unual scientific achievements that “first make people lgh, and then make them thk. Jane Ward, thor of Not Gay: Sex between Straight Whe Men, says that the thkg surroundg the ruals is, “If you endure together this kd of mortifyg, huiatg and embarrassg homosexual act, then that not only toughens up your body, but will also build and strengthen that bond around you. Half a after the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell, most lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr service members still felt reluctant to be open about their sexualy wh their lleagu and cha of mand, acrdg to a study released late study, published by the journal Sexualy Rearch and Social Policy, found that 59 percent of rponnts did not feel fortable beg out at work, eher bee of reer repercsns or bee of the burn of beg a token rponsible for tg their peers.

”Dpe the orrs om above, many veterans publicly opposed the 2011 repeal of the ban on gay, lbian and bisexual service for troops who had grown up that environment, the policy’s mise did not flip a swch terms of fort level ― theirs or their lleagu. “The stctor was reported to e the pejorative term ‘fags’ durg class, disclose other people’s sexual mory inty to his stunts whout their permissn, and munite that he believed sexual mori were more promiscuo than heterosexuals, ” acrdg the the study, based on a rponse om a gay soldier.

I am about to be put on a board for major and I do not want to not even have that opportuny to put myself where they n easily be like, ‘Get rid of this guy; if we have to cut 55 percent of the officers up for , he’s one of the easy on we n jt fd a reason to jt ver [ourselv], ' " said one rponnt, a gay Mare. It is unclear if gay and lbian veterans will receive spoal benefs if they do not ri a state that regniz same-sex marriage; nservativ are attemptg to make easier for service members to harass gay and lbian troops by tablishg broad exemptns for the relig views of service members; transgenr Amerins are still prohibed om servg any pacy; and some veterans who were kicked out for beg gay or lbian are still fightg for a discharge upgra, which affects their abily to ga health re verage and fd employment. Dpe the ary swiftly and effectively implementg the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, nservativ are ntually pavg the way for service members to harass gay and lbian troops by tablishg broad exemptns for the relig views of service members.

US ARY LIFTS BAN ON OPENLY GAY TROOPS

Though the ary’s ban on nsensual sodomy is arguably unenforceable sce the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, many view the law as a relic of the ary’s history of discrimatn agast gay and lbian service members, as appears the same sentence wh btialy the UCMJ. 1988: The rults of a jot report nducted by the DoD and the Defense Personnel Secury Rearch Edutn Center rerce the fdgs of a 1957 report claimg that gay and lbian dividuals enlisted the armed forc pose no signifint risk to secury (which had prevly been the ratnale for barrg gay dividuals om enlistg the ary).