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

Contents:

• "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
• A GAY SOLDIER'S STORY
• IN WWII, TWO GAY SOLDIERS’ FORBIDN ROMANCE LIV ON IN THEIR LOVE LETTERS
• BT GAY ROMANCE TIM OF WAR
• READ THIS HEARTBREAKG GAY WORLD WAR II SOLDIER’S LOVE LETTER
• LETTERS REVEAL THE STORI OF GAY SOLDIERS WORLD WARS
• GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
• TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY
• WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE GAY DURG WWII
• INCREDIBLE UNTOLD STORI OF THE GAY MEN WHO DITED THEMSELV TO FENDG OUR UNTRY DURG WORLD WARS

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

The 1994 documentary Comg Out Unr Fire giv voice to the experienc of thoands of gay and lbian servicemembers who joed the ary durg World War II, a story that is largely ignored by historians and mms across the untry. Gay and lbian recs were forced to answer qutns vaguely, or lie about their sexualy, orr to be allowed to serve; otherwise, they would n the risk of beg sent home and brand as “sex perverts.

A GAY SOLDIER'S STORY

Servicemembers on every waront enjoyed drag show entertament; an entire gay lexin was veloped om the wrgs of Dorothy Parker; and eventually an unrground queer newspaper emerged.

The feral discrimatory actns drove LGBTQ people further to the shadows of society and embolned law enforcement and policians, who beme more vlent toward gay and lbian cizens. My only hope is that anizatns around the untry m to pturg the voic of gay, lbian, and transgenr veterans and that we fd a place our history to honor their service as well.

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

We sat down wh Sir John Dermot Turg, Alan Turg’s nephew and thor of a new book on Bletchley Park, to discs his uncle’s role pivotal role puter science and his persecutn for beg gay the 1950s.

Of the, 's likely that at least 250, 000 were gay or bisexual (based on projectns om the 1990-91 Natnal Survey of Sexual Attus and Liftyl which found that six per cent of men report havg had homosexual experienc). Havg risked his life durg WW2, and nearly died a Japane POW mp, Cave was angry that once the war was over Bra's gay soldiers were persecuted and jailed by the ary thori. I am glad I served but I am angry that ary homophobia was allowed to wreck so many liv for over 50 years after we gave our all for a eedom that gay people were nied", said Cave.

He never saw the day when gay and lbian ary personnel fally, at long last, secured their share of the eedom that he and lns of other soldiers - gay and straight - fought to secure. But more than 70 years later, was disvered that G stood for Gordon, and Gilbert had been love wh a the time, not only was homosexualy illegal, but those the armed forc uld be shot for havg gay sex. The letters, which emerged after Mr Bradley's ath 2008, are therefore unual and shed an important light on homosexual relatnships durg the do we know about this forbidn love affair?

BT GAY ROMANCE TIM OF WAR

Gay activy was a urt-martial offence, jail sentenc for so-lled "gross cency" were mon, and much of society strongly disapproved of same-sex was not until the Sexual Offenc Act 1967 that nsentg men aged 21 and over were legally allowed to have gay relatnships - and beg openly gay the armed servic was not allowed until letters, which emerged after Mr Bradley's ath 2008, are rare bee most homosexual upl would get rid of anythg so crimatg, says gay rights activist Peter Rose. They dited their youth to fendg a untry that was often reluctant to accept the way they lived their liv - even at the risk of gettg now the credible stori of the gay men who fought the two world wars has been revealed a new book on the 50th anniversary of the crimalisatn of clu the love letters of First World War sweethearts, workg-class Ralph Hall and middle-class soldier Montague Glover, who began a long-term relatnship the 1930s. Both men served the Army om 1914-18, while Hall joed the RAF durg World War Two, and the uple rned durg peacetime and risked imprisonment for their relatnship up until to manpower shortag, gay men were unofficially allowed to serve the armed forc, and around 250, 000 of some 5 ln Brish men who durg the Send World War are timated to have been gay or is spe the law sayg gay recs uld be dismissed wh a dishonourable discharge for the mere fact of beg gay, and imprisoned or even shot for 'gross cency' if they engaged homosexual acts.

A wave of nvictns followed the close of the war 1945, cludg of the Bletchley Park breaker Alan Turg, who killed himself 1954 after beg found guilty of homosexual activy two years on July 27, 1967, homosexual acts between two men over the age of 21 private were legalised unr the Sexual Offenc Act. The thor of Fightg Proud, Stephen Bourne, said: 'When I started to look closely at the experienc of gay men the Send World War, I realised that, spe homophobia, and the fact that homosexualy was agast the law, gay men were accepted to the armed servic, they were tegrated and some stanc, beme 'masts' on board their ships, their regiments or their RAF crew' Soldiers who were disvered to be homosexual uld be urt martialled and thrown out of the servic. Homosexual men Bra were fally protected by law as homosexual acts between two men over the age of 21 private were legalised This image, taken 1917, shows the theatril pany of HMS Er.

READ THIS HEARTBREAKG GAY WORLD WAR II SOLDIER’S LOVE LETTER

Mr Bourne add: 'Some gay men who joed up did face hostily to beg wh, but found that if they ed humour they uld overe homophobic attus and make iends'Other fascatg tal Fightg Proud: The Untold Story of the Gay Men Who Served Two World Wars clu that of Journey's End playwright, R. Dpe the risks of beg ught, many gay men were known to be gay and accepted by their ras Fred Barn was an English mic hall sger who was openly gay and known for his signature song, 'The Black Sheep of the Fay'. Mr Bourne said: 'I am certa that some gay men would have been accepted by their heterosexual ras on the ont-le, and the trench, but if they were found out the punishment was harsh, pecially the officer class' Pictured: A World War Two postrd pictg two gay soldiers.

99 Alan Turg: The hero breaker fally given a pardon after his 1950s nvictn for beg gay Alan Turg, who was nvicted of homosexual activy 1952 but pardoned by the Queen 2013Almost 60 years after he killed himself wh cyani, gay Enigma breaker Alan Turg was given a Royal pardon for the nvictn which stroyed his was requted by the then Jtice Secretary Chris Graylg, who scribed Turg as a natnal hero who fell foul of the law bee of his sexualy.

Historians cred the work of Turg and his fellow -breakers at Bletchley Park Buckghamshire wh shorteng the war by up to two years, savg untls 1952 he was nvicted for homosexual activy and agreed to ‘chemil stratn’ – hormonal treatment signed to rce libido - to avoid prison. An qut rerd a verdict of suici, although his mother and others mataed that his ath was the two world wars, gay people the armed forc uld be given a 'dishonourable discharge' for the mere fact of beg attracted to members of the same sex. The l remaed on the statute books throughout both nflicts, but manpower shortag means ary lears were reluctant to enforce them, and nvictns were number of gay men hand dishonorable discharg and nvicted of gross cency creased after the war end and keepg as many men the armed forc as possible was ls of an Turg's se, as well as physil and emotnal damage, his nvictn had led to the removal of his secury clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for GCHQ, the succsor to the Government Co and Cypher School, based at Bletchley was granted a pardon by the Queen after a long mpaign to rehabilate his reputatn.

LETTERS REVEAL THE STORI OF GAY SOLDIERS WORLD WARS

It is unclear how many of the men publicly or privately intified as gay or were part of gay muni and works that had been tablished Germany before the Nazi rise to power. Gay newspapers and journals, such as Die Frndschaft (Friendship) and Der Eigene (translated varly, but this ntext implyg “his own man”), ntributed to the growth of gay works. Fally, 1936 SS lear and Chief of the German Police Herich Himmler tablished the Reich Central Office for the Combatg of Homosexualy and Abortn (Reichszentrale zur Bekämpfung r Homosexualät und r Abtreibung).

GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME

Unverg the histori of gay men durg the Nazi era was difficult for much of the twentieth century bee of ntued prejudice agast same-sex sexualy and the ongog enforcement of Paragraph 175. A few years later, May 2008, the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted unr Nazism (Denkmal für die im Natnalsozialism verfolgten Homosexuellen) was unveiled nearby Tiergarten park central Berl.

TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY

But Pri didn’t start as a para, started as a prott wh the Stonewall Rts 1969 and many historians pos that the roots of the LGBT activists n be found the World War II experienc of gays men and lbians the Amerin ary. The ary’s policy that homosexual acts were a crime that mered discharge gave way to a psychiatrist-ntrolled theory that homosexualy was an illns, and the sick person, not the act, beme the target of anti-homosexual polici and directiv.

To help examers distguish gay men om other enliste, psychiatrists wrote to ary regulatns lists of stereotyped signs that characterized gay men as visibly different om the rt of the populatn.

Terviewed by Allan Bébé “Comg Out Unr Fire, ” wh another man durg the, hundreds of thoands of gay, lbian, and bisexual men and women served the armed forc durg World War II. The ary officially rejected only about 4, 000 to 5, 000 men bee of “psychopathic personaly disorrs” after examg nearly 18 ln men, acrdg to Allan Bébé his book “Comg Out Unr Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women World War II. Among the soldiers who reprented female characters ary plays like this, some homosexual soldiers found refuge om rigid norms about genr rol , many gays and lbians were discharged for homosexual activy.

WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE GAY DURG WWII

They were often marked “HS” or some other for homosexual, effectively disqualifyg the veteran om receivg any GI rights or benefs and barrg many discharged soldiers om gettg civilian not a lot is known or nfirmed about transgenr people servg the U.

However, jt how Ain Amerins experiencg Jim Crow laws after beg willg to die for their untry durg the war ntributed to the Civil Rights Movement, gay men and women experiencg persecutn and reprsn after the relative eedom they experienced durg the war ntributed to the burgeong gay rights movement. 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.

"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. " 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. You’re a Mare, you don’t md gettg dirty, gog out to the field and not showerg for weeks at a, if you were gay, when you have to shower wh all the other guys you’d get all exced.

INCREDIBLE UNTOLD STORI OF THE GAY MEN WHO DITED THEMSELV TO FENDG OUR UNTRY DURG WORLD WARS

And therefore few people realized that the first Amerin serly wound the vasn of Iraq durg the send Gulf war was a gay 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. 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.