The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) stands wh our fellow Amerins regnizg and honorg lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ+) veterans, service members and ary fai for Pri Month.
Contents:
- A GAY SOLDIER’S STORY OF VIETNAM AND AFTER
- LEONARD MATLOVICH: THE GAY MILARY HERO YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF
- "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
A GAY SOLDIER’S STORY OF VIETNAM AND AFTER
The Gay Milary Hero You've Probably Never Heard Of * gay vietnam veterans of america *
Larry Sanrs wr about servg the army, where he uld have been arrted for beg gay durg a very unpopular war. The day Larry Sanrs registered for the draft, one qutn buried the middle of a long qutnnaire smacked him the face: “Do you intify as a homosexual or ever had sexual feelgs for persons of the same sex? At the time Sanrs registered for the draft 1967, no one was clear about what happened to someone who admted beg gay.
When I registered for the draft jt a few years later, I was told not to say I was gay, bee they would make you prove . How do someone not datg anyone “prove” they’re gay? He didn’t really intify as homosexual.
And as a gay soldier, he didn’t particularly relate to those who served wh him.
LEONARD MATLOVICH: THE GAY MILARY HERO YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF
Gay and Lbian soldiers faced extraordary discrimatn durg World War II. Most found new muni of people and thrived spe the opprsn. Disver the film Comg Out Unr Fire that shar their story. * gay vietnam veterans of america *
And what about beg a gay soldier an army that forba ? "A Gay Vietnam Veteran, " reads bold letters. C., where a clter of gay veterans are buried.
It almost seemed better whout a name, like was a symbolic grave for all the gay soldiers who fought for their untry but had to hi their te selv. To the gay muny, he was the first U.
It was March 1975 when he walked up to his mandg officer and hand him a letter statg that he was gay. But he ma a name for himself as a vol gay rights advote at a time when there weren't many.
"COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
___________________Also on The Huffgton Post:Gay Pri Around The World Popular the CommunyYou May Like. (Wikimedia Commons)In Southeast Washgton there is a Congrsnal Cemetery that serv as the fal rtg place for nearly 70,000 “noteworthy cizens who left their mark on the cy and the natn.”And while many of the plot’s occupants were Foundg Fathers or lawmakers om the Revolutnary War era, there is one more recently terred man whose tombstone is noteworthy bee don’t actually bear his name.Air Force tech sergeant, LGBTQIA+ advote, and HIV/AIDS activist Leonard Matlovich is buried the Congrsnal Cemetery beneath a grave stone that simply reads, “A Gay Vietnam Veteran.”For his service Vietnam, Matlovich received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
He published a memo March 1975, after 12 years the Air Force, announcg his g out as a gay man.“After some years of uncertaty I have arrived at the ncln that my sexual preferenc are homosexual as opposed to heterosexual,” Matlovich wrote to his mandg officer. “I have also nclud that my sexual preference will no way terfere wh my Air Force duti.”Alas, the Air Force disagreed, and held a subsequent hearg that led to Matlovich’s discharge spe his exemplary service rerd.“Durg his admistrative discharge hearg, Matlovich was asked by an attorney if he would be willg sign a document pledgg to ‘never practice homosexualy aga’ orr to rema the ary,” acrdg to Air Force history. The panel ultimately found him unf for service and he was given a general, later upgrad to honorable, discharge.”Comg out, however, ma Matlovich to a major player what would bee the gay rights movement, even landg him — uniform — on the ver of a September 1975 TIME magaze issue alongsi a headle that read “I Am a Homosexual.”Five years later, the Air Force was forced by urt orr to restate him and offer back pay.He did not, however, choose to return to service.
Instead, Matlovich beme a gay rights activist the fight for the equal treatment of the LGBTQIA+ muny until his ath.Matlovich died June 1988 of plitns om AIDS.