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

gay military reunion

It's been 10 years sce Print Obama moved to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Joseph Patton was discharged om the the Navy for beiendg gay men, before openly gay Amerins uld serve.

Contents:

A GAY VETERAN REMEMBERS SERVG IN SILENCE

* gay military reunion *

A Gay Veteran Remembers Servg In Silence.

FOR GAY UPL HOPG FOR A ARY BURIAL, THE FIGHT FOR LOVE DON’T END WH ATH

Soldiers reprentg the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer muny virtually celebrated Pri Month Thursday * gay military reunion *

Joseph Patton, at home Santa Moni, Calif., told StoryCorps last year that he was given an unsirable discharge for beg iends wh openly gay men the ary.

Des before openly gay Amerins were legally allowed to serve the ary, Joseph Patton, a gay man, served silence.

ARMY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL RETIR AFTER SPIRG OTHERS

The right to a ary burial for gay spo was guaranteed natnwi wh the legalizatn of same-sex marriage 2015, but only a handful of known same-sex ary upl are buried across US natnal cemeteri. For most, the right to such an honor has been hard won. * gay military reunion *

" The 1993 Clton-era policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" took an outright ban on gay service members and replaced wh a policy that allowed homosexual and bisexual people to serve the ary as long as they didn't reveal their sexual orientatn. When he served, Patton relled top ary brass actively enforcg the ban when he went to a gay bar San Diego wh other service members.

"They had ary police walkg around to check and see if there were any service men any of the gay bars, " he said.

Although Patton kept his sexual orientatn private, he was ultimately penalized bee he was part of a social circle that clud gay men who opened up to learship about their sexualy.

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

Most lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr service members are still reluctant to disclose their sexual orientatn or inty. * gay military reunion *

And I was kicked out of the service for beg iends wh a homosexual, " he relled. ”A earlier, the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” allowed gays and lbians to serve openly after centuri of hidg, persecutn and dishonorable, we salute some of the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer service members who paved the way for a more clive force. Ralph Earl via Getty ImagWhout this gay ary geni, the Contental army might not have won the Revolutnary War.

Friedrich von Stben joed the Pssian army as a teen, eventually beg an ai--mp to Frerick the Great, who was also mored to be gay. But In 1763, at 33, Stben was unceremonly discharged “unr a cloud, hound by accatns of havg relatns wh young men, ” acrdg to The Gay and Lbian Review. Acrdg to Randy Shilts’ “Conduct Unbeg: Gays and Lbians the U.

C., and the Stben Para, held each September down New York’s Fifth KamenyFrank Kameny Kennedy / Tribune News Service via Getty ImagOne of the Foundg Fathers of the morn gay rights movement, Frank Kameny enlisted the Army 1943, servg Europe throughout World War II. After the war, he earned a doctorate at Harvard Universy and tght astronomy at Geetown Universy, In 1957, Kameny had jt started workg for the Army Map Service, wh hop of beg an astront, when he was termated after vtigators unvered evince he was a, then 32, appealed the firg, argug that flatly labelg gay people a secury risk was “no ls od than discrimatn based upon relig or racial grounds. The jtic refed to hear the appeal, but marked the first time the high urt even nsired a civil rights se based on sexual orientatn — and galvanized Kameny to beg a lifelong activist for equaly for gays and years later, 1965, Kameny, Kay Tob and Barbara Gtgs started the Annual Remrs, the first anized picket protts for gay rights Ameri, held at Philalphia’s Inpennce Hall.

PRIMARY SOURCE SET: GAY MEN THE ARY

WASHINGTON -- Sce Maj. Gen. Tammy Smh, the ary’s hight-rankg openly gay officer, me out 2012, she has tried beg an example of livg... * gay military reunion *

In the 1970s, Kameny bee the first openly gay ndidate for Congrs and challenged the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn’s diagnosis of homosexualy as a mental disorr, acrdg to a 2015 Department of Labor 2009, the U. Wh urage and strength, you fought back, ” said OPM Director John Berry, himself an out gay man, the Washgton Post December 2010, Kameny was ved to the Whe Hoe to wns Print Barack Obama sign the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” to law. ”Fannie Mae Clackum Though ls well known than Kameny, Clackum beme the first service member to succsfully challenge a ary discharge on the grounds of homosexualy.

”While the lg Clackum’s favor turned on due procs, rather than a rejectn of the ban on gays the ary, was the first time the Armed Forc had to answer for attacks on LGBTQ service MilkHarvey Milk outsi his mera shop San Francis 1977. Bettmann ArchiveThough Harvey Milk is better known for his stnch gay activism, polil reer and tragic assassatn, he enlisted the U. Rather than face a urt-martial over his homosexualy, Milk was prsured to acceptg an “other than honorable” discharge.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY MILITARY REUNION

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