In WWII, Two Gay Soldiers' Forbidn Romance Liv On In Their Love Letters

Contents:

• THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY
• BRIEF HISTORY OF GAYS THE MILARY
• THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE GAY SOLDIERS WHO SERVED THE FIRST WORLD WAR
• THE ELE GAY ARMY OF ANCIENT GREECETHE SACRED BAND OF THEB FEATED EVEN THE SPARTANSPETER PRKAR·FOLLOWPUBLISHED LSONS OM HISTORY·4 M READ·OCT 11, 2020--3SHAREGREEK WARRRS — ARTISTIC IMAGE (IMAGE:ARTSTATN/@ALIAKSANDR TRYZON)THE SACRED BAND WAS AN ELE ARY UN OM THEB PRISG 150 GAY UPL. AT THE BATTLE OF LCTRA 371 BC, THE 300 GAY WARRRS LED THE THEBAN ARMY AGAST THE SPARTAN ARMY. THE THEBANS WON AND SHATTERED THE SPARTAN NTROL OF GREECE.THE GREEK VIEW ON GAY WARRRSA MALE UPLE ENGAGG TERCRAL SEX. DEPICTED ON ANCIENT GREEK POTTERY (IMAGE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)THE THEBANS BELIEVED GAY WARRRS FOUGHT BETTER ORR TO IMPRS AND PROTECT THEIR LOVERS. IF A LOVER FELL DURG A BATTLE, HIS PARTNER WOULD FIGHT EVEN HARR TO AVENGE HIS ATH.THREE THOAND YEARS AGO ANCIENT GREECE, BEG GAY OR LBIAN WAS NOT A CRIME. IN FACT, CERTA SUATNS, THE GREEKS EVEN ENURAGED HOMOSEXUAL RELATNSHIPS.YOUNG BOYS EXCHANGED ROMANTIC FAVORS FOR THE KNOWLEDGE PROVID BY THEIR OLR TUTORS. FATHERS WOULD PRAY TO THE GODS FOR THEIR SONS TO BE ATTRACTIVE BEE MEANT A BETTER MENTOR. SUCH RELATNSHIPS LASTED UNTIL THE YOUNG BOYS REACHED ADULTHOOD.SOLDIERS WOULD FORM ROMANTIC RELATNSHIPS WH ONE ANOTHER TO BOOST THEIR MORALE.THE GREEK SOCIETY DIFFERENTIATED BETWEEN ACTIVE AND PASSIVE ROL BOTH GENRS TOOK DURG SEX. AN ACTIVE ROLE, BEG A PERATOR, MEANT MASCULY, ADULTHOOD, AND PRTIGE. A PASSIVE ROLE, BEG PERATED, REPRENTED FEMY, YOUTH, AND SHAME.FOR A RECEIVG PARTNER, ANAL SEX WAS MEANG. INSTEAD, THEY ENGAGED TERCRAL SEX.THE MEMBERS OF THE SACRED BAND OF THEB WERE ROMANTIC PARTNERS. THEY LLED AN OLR PARTNER THE ERAST (‘LOVER’) AND A YOUNGER ONE THE EROMENOS (‘BELOVED’). EACH PAIR EXCHANGED SACRED VOWS AT THE TEMPLE OF IOLS, THE LOVER OF HERACL.FACTS ABOUT THE SACRED BAND OF THEB
• IN WWII, TWO GAY SOLDIERS’ FORBIDN ROMANCE LIV ON IN THEIR LOVE LETTERS
• "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
• HISTORY OF GAYS THE MILARY--PICTURES
• HOW WWI SPARKED THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
• HISTORY’S GREATT GAY GENERAL

THE REVOLUTNARY WAR HERO WHO WAS OPENLY GAY

The are the voic explag what has been like to be a gay man1 the Amerin ary over the prev seventy or so years, om World War II veterans their late eighti to young servicemen on active duty.1. "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." But when the tag team prevailed, they unrtimated the ristance to such a reform om a aln of social nservativ, relig groups, and a large part of the ary self.

The nsequence, the followg year, was a msy kd of promise that beme lloquially known as "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." Gay people were allowed the ary but only as long as they didn’t reveal their sexualy; to facilate this, all members of the ary were also prohibed om quirg about anyone’s possible orientatn. I have seen happen: ’If you don’t do this, I’m gog to report you.’ "Air Force #1: "Two of my iends were disvered, both officers—’s a long and arduo procs for an officer to get kicked out for beg gay.

BRIEF HISTORY OF GAYS THE MILARY

You’re a Mare, you don’t md gettg dirty, gog out to the field and not showerg for weeks at a time...and, if you were gay, when you have to shower wh all the other guys you’d get all exced. And therefore few people realized that the first Amerin serly wound the vasn of Iraq durg the send Gulf war was a gay man.When Alva signed up, before "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," he had to lie on his paperwork.

Lbians have suffered unr the same prohibns and prejudic and share many of the same experienc, as well as some that are distct, but this article ncentrat on the experience of gay men.Meanwhile, the media picked up on his story. And when, 2006, the battl over "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" the ary and gay marriage the wir muny were simmerg, Alva’s boyiend at the time poted out to him that he did have some notoriety that might be of e.

(The meetgs have been arranged through a private onle work lled OutServe, set up only last year, which allows gay and lbian servicepeople a safe and secure way of fdg and munitg wh one another.) This eveng, two arrive wh their boyiends. To be the ary and still try to live any kd of life as a gay man, ’s not easy.Air Force #4 (senr airman, four years): "Right now our relatnships don’t exist."Air Force #3: "I’ve had three ployments [while] wh the same person. In the shadow of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," whenever gay servicemen did face any kd of homophobic harassment, they were powerls to draw attentn to whout potentially triggerg the end of their ary reer.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE GAY SOLDIERS WHO SERVED THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The le self beme the very tool of their opprsn: "The ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy," says Joseph Rocha (navy, 2004–7), "punish homosexuals who ply, and protects bigots."Before his own experience turned ugly, Rocha was exactly the kd of ialistic, motivated rec the ary mt wish for.

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 . Anyone who gets off thkg that ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ unr the Bh admistratn anyone uld have gone and said, ’Hey, I’m beg antagonized unr the prciple that I might be gay’ and feel safe is absurd." Eventually the events—tails of which are still disputed by other participants—me to light a broar vtigatn; s aftermath one of the senr officers beg held rponsible—a woman who happened to be Rocha’s bt iend the un—mted suici. 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.

And I love to dance.’ And he looked over at the door and said, ’Next!’ "John McNeill, 85: "They were sperate need of more nnon fodr—they didn’t re whether we were gay or straight."AW: "In January ’45, the Belgian Bulge occurred, and Amerin troops, Patton’s Third Army, were slghtered, and the army cid: We don’t need any more hot pilots, we need more fantry, so I did go overseas as an fantry rifle replacement the sprg. Jt bee: Missn Acplished."JM: "I found out right after the war that if someone were discharged as homosexual, a notice of that fact was sent home to their lol draft board, so that their whole muny would e to know that they were gay. And this led directly to the formatn of gay ghettos the major ci, where people who uldn’t go home, bee their sexualy had been revealed by the army, had to move to Greenwich Village or the San Francis Castro.

THE ELE GAY ARMY OF ANCIENT GREECETHE SACRED BAND OF THEB FEATED EVEN THE SPARTANSPETER PRKAR·FOLLOWPUBLISHED LSONS OM HISTORY·4 M READ·OCT 11, 2020--3SHAREGREEK WARRRS — ARTISTIC IMAGE (IMAGE:ARTSTATN/@ALIAKSANDR TRYZON)THE SACRED BAND WAS AN ELE ARY UN OM THEB PRISG 150 GAY UPL. AT THE BATTLE OF LCTRA 371 BC, THE 300 GAY WARRRS LED THE THEBAN ARMY AGAST THE SPARTAN ARMY. THE THEBANS WON AND SHATTERED THE SPARTAN NTROL OF GREECE.THE GREEK VIEW ON GAY WARRRSA MALE UPLE ENGAGG TERCRAL SEX. DEPICTED ON ANCIENT GREEK POTTERY (IMAGE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)THE THEBANS BELIEVED GAY WARRRS FOUGHT BETTER ORR TO IMPRS AND PROTECT THEIR LOVERS. IF A LOVER FELL DURG A BATTLE, HIS PARTNER WOULD FIGHT EVEN HARR TO AVENGE HIS ATH.THREE THOAND YEARS AGO ANCIENT GREECE, BEG GAY OR LBIAN WAS NOT A CRIME. IN FACT, CERTA SUATNS, THE GREEKS EVEN ENURAGED HOMOSEXUAL RELATNSHIPS.YOUNG BOYS EXCHANGED ROMANTIC FAVORS FOR THE KNOWLEDGE PROVID BY THEIR OLR TUTORS. FATHERS WOULD PRAY TO THE GODS FOR THEIR SONS TO BE ATTRACTIVE BEE MEANT A BETTER MENTOR. SUCH RELATNSHIPS LASTED UNTIL THE YOUNG BOYS REACHED ADULTHOOD.SOLDIERS WOULD FORM ROMANTIC RELATNSHIPS WH ONE ANOTHER TO BOOST THEIR MORALE.THE GREEK SOCIETY DIFFERENTIATED BETWEEN ACTIVE AND PASSIVE ROL BOTH GENRS TOOK DURG SEX. AN ACTIVE ROLE, BEG A PERATOR, MEANT MASCULY, ADULTHOOD, AND PRTIGE. A PASSIVE ROLE, BEG PERATED, REPRENTED FEMY, YOUTH, AND SHAME.FOR A RECEIVG PARTNER, ANAL SEX WAS MEANG. INSTEAD, THEY ENGAGED TERCRAL SEX.THE MEMBERS OF THE SACRED BAND OF THEB WERE ROMANTIC PARTNERS. THEY LLED AN OLR PARTNER THE ERAST (‘LOVER’) AND A YOUNGER ONE THE EROMENOS (‘BELOVED’). EACH PAIR EXCHANGED SACRED VOWS AT THE TEMPLE OF IOLS, THE LOVER OF HERACL.FACTS ABOUT THE SACRED BAND OF THEB

An Out Amerin Soldier at WarIf sometim "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" has been promised by persistent askg, then, as Darren Manzella (army, 2002–8) disvered, there have been other tim when, curly, the ary shut their ears to what they’d been told."I fally accepted that I was gay the first time I went to Iraq 2004. Manzella operated fully wh the vtigatn; when he was asked for evince that he wasn’t jt claimg to be gay orr to trigger a discharge, he even supplied photos, and footage of him and his boyiend passnately kissg on a road trip.

A month later he was lled to see his battaln manr and told that the vtigatn had been closed: "His words were ’We found no proof of homosexualy.’ " While wary of puttg further words the manr’s mouth, Manzella felt what was clearly beg munited was: You’re a good soldier. I looked at everybody else’s sks and they had pictur of their wiv, hbands, or boyiends or girliends, so I had pictur of my boyiend up."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.

IN WWII, TWO GAY SOLDIERS’ FORBIDN ROMANCE LIV ON IN THEIR LOVE LETTERS

I was nfed until beme clear that, partly by chance and partly by a cha of personal remendatns over the years, this trailer park had bee some kd of gay-veteran hot spot: There are eight or ten others livg here, and more nearby.

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

One Man’s Vietnam"Back the ’50s Oregon," rells Tom Norton (Army, 1968-71), "they were still puttg people jail for homosexual activy, and that certaly sends a strong msage to a young kid. Whatever I experienced Vietnam was better than that."Norton wasn’t sexually active Vietnam—"I would numb myself and avoid anythg sexual"—and was only years later that he realized that some of the men his social circle there were gay. Given the potential implitns, the cisn of whether—and whom—to tst is an enormo one.Air Force #4: "No one knows about me."Air Force #2: "There’s one good iend that I thought about tellg, but always right when I thk, ’Okay, ’s ol to tell him,’ he’ll say somethg that is kd of weird about gay people."Mar #2: "I me out to one person when I was my first un.

The senator I worked for and the ngrsman I worked for knew I was gay—they were both nservative Republins—and they wrote a letter of remendatn to get me to the Mare Corps."Air Force #3: "It’s a sany issue. Some of my married iends act gayer than any of my gay iends."Mar #2: "You’d be amazed how gay Mar are when they don’t believe there’s anyone gay around."Air Force #5 (senr airman, two years): "Every three or four months I go out wh people I work wh to a club and I make out wh some girl ont of them. They jt want somebody to dance wh."Navy #3 (manr, rerv, twenty years): "A pal of me on a rrier went to the CO and said, ’What is your policy on gays?’ The CO looked at my iend and said, ’If somebody wants to get off my ship for beg gay, they have to e to me wh two Polaroids, both of them they have to be clearly suckg ck, and I want to be able to see their face.’ That’s why I love my navy."10.

HISTORY OF GAYS THE MILARY--PICTURES

One Man’s Secret Too ManyIt’s temptg to see gay servicemen’s entire ary existence through the prism of this sgle issue—the mpaigner, the opprsed, the stoic endurer—and as the totaly of who they are.

HOW WWI SPARKED THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

In June 1998, Richard Merrt (Mar, 1985–98) appeared on the ver of The New York Tim Magaze, uniform but wh his face obscured, and si the story scribed what life was actually like for someone gay servg the ary.

I wanted to be on the ver." In her story he me across as, he says, "a very nservative type of gay," but when he started lettg people know that s subject was him, he mt have known the clock was tickg.

"I had taken some time off om my battaln and was stg at home jt flippg through the San Diego Gay and Lbian Tim, and there was an ad for ’male mols wanted.’ I n’t say I wasn’t lookg for —I was lookg to see how easy is to get to porn." Soon Merrt was appearg his first gay porn film.

GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME

You’re crazy.’ I thought, ’Oh my God, I’ve got a Jacuzzi full of porn stars tellg me I’m crazy.’" 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. ’Hey, by the way...’ That’s why I don’t thk I’m gog to say anythg."Mar #2: "A straight Mare don’t walk to work and say, ’Jt so everybody knows, I’m straight.’ So I don’t want to walk to work and say, ’Jt so everybody knows, I’m gay.’ I don’t thk I should have to do that."Navy #3: "Nobody joed up to be ’the un gay guy,’ but that’s who you’re gog to be, and I thk ’s cumbent on who are senr to basilly intify ourselv so that younger kids n look and say, ’Hey, is okay.’ Bee we didn’t have that."Air Force #1: "I’m a manr of a fairly large un. 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.

HISTORY’S GREATT GAY GENERAL

" Though a June 2009 Gallup poll showed that 69% of Amerins support allowg gays and lbians to serve the ary, repealg "Don't ask, don't tell" will take more than a claratn — will take an act of Congrs.

HomeHistoryIn DepthDiscrimatn and persecutn has led to gay soldiers of the Great War beg seen as tragic figur, but this was not always the seGetty ImagThe Royal Brish Legn is lnchg a mpaign today to mark 100 days before the 100th anniversary of the armistice that end the First World will be revealg a 3D “Thank You” stallatn on London’s Southbank before embarkg on a natnal cy tour to “thank the First World War generatn who served and sacrificed to benef generatns to e” centenary has also offered an opportuny for the ls well-known figur of the war to be discsed, cludg women, black and mory ethnic people and homosexuals, many of whom faced discrimatn spe servg their acts between men often rulted rporal punishment or imprisonment, and th acunts of gay servicemen om this time are rare. Homosexualy was not only illegal the UK at the time, but there were also “strong social currents, particularly among the upper class, opposg same sex relatnships”, East Ssex WWI a rult, Harvey wr that “at least 230 soldiers were urt-martialled, nvicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment for homosexual offenc” were homosexual solirs treated? Stephen Bourne, thor of Fightg Proud: The Untold Story of the Gay Men Who Served Two World Wars, pots to Edward Brta, a soldier om Macclfield who earned the Milary Cross for his “gallantry” the Battle of the was killed by Atrian gunfire 1918, but after the war his sister Vera revealed that the prev day he had been acced of homosexual activy after a letter of his was opened by a censor.

Although many gay men quietly outed themselv and were accepted by their ras, efforts would have been taken to hi this fact om stggle is evint cryptilly phrased letters om the example, celebrated poet Wiled Owen, who never me out but is believed by some to have been gay, wrote to his 1918: “There are two French girls my billet, dghters of the Mayor, who (I suppose bee of my French) sgle me for their joyful gratu for La Déliverance. “Gay soldiers who survived the bloodlettg returned home nvced their ernments owed them somethg – full cizenship, ” he Germany, anisatns sprang up llg for LGBT rights, cludg the League for Human Rights, which drew 100, 000 members. Neverthels, the UK’s persecutn of homosexuals perservered through the Send World War - where many men felt forced to hi their, even then, took until 2000 for the Brish armed forc to accept openly LGBTQ people, markg a dramatic shift attus.