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

Contents:

• PRIMARY SOURCE SET: GAY MEN THE ARY
• "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
• IN WWII, TWO GAY SOLDIERS’ FORBIDN ROMANCE LIV ON IN THEIR LOVE LETTERS
• GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME

PRIMARY SOURCE SET: GAY MEN THE ARY

Gay men have a long history of servg the Uned Stat ary.

This primary source set provis sights to the experienc of gay servicemen spanng several generatns and nflicts. Topics clu blue discharg; servg durg the Send World War; gay life and relatnships durg the Vietnam era; and servg unr Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Gay Vets 1978 Pri Para (at 2:40). Allan Bebe on WWII gay servicepeople.

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

Gays and the Milary article, 1982. Gay and Lbian soldiers faced extraordary discrimatn durg World War II.

Liebman and more than 9, 000 Amerin servicemembers, however, eventually were given a Sectn 8 "blue discharge" for beg homosexual. 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.

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

In 1993, the Uned Stat was batg the discrimatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regardg homosexuals the morn ary. At the time, homosexualy was classified as a mental illns by the medil muny; mental illns was one ndn that disqualified young people om service.

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. By the middle of the war, the ary sought new ways to target and expel homosexuals.

GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME

Instead of chargg dividuals wh sodomy, a urt-martialed offense, the ary began intifyg spected homosexuals as psychopaths.