Ameri's Gay Conferate and Unn Soldiers | HuffPost Latt News

gay soldiers in the civil war

Discrimatn and persecutn has led to gay soldiers of the Great War beg seen as tragic figur, but this was not always the se

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CONFERATE AND UNN: THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF GAY CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS

As "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to an end, we sent Chris Heath to terview dozens of gay servicemen om the past and prent to fd out what life was really like as Ameri's ary stggled wh s last great inty crisis * gay soldiers in the civil war *

Historian Jonathan Katz has intified the great divi of the homosexual-heterosexual hypothis as a product of the closg s of the neteenth century. Put simply, the words homosexual, bisexual, gay, and queer were not available to Civil War soldiers to scribe their eros.

Unn and Conferate soldiers did not thk of a sexual world habed by straight and gay men, bee that way of orrg the world had not yet been nstcted. To label Alphons Richter as gay or bisexual miss the plexy and queerns of his actual relatnships. In a time before the ventn of homosexualy as a ncept, Richter and Becker uld celebrate both their manls as soldiers and their timacy to fay and iends.

THE HISTORY OF GAY CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS, ALISON BECHL THE ‘NEW YORKER’, AND MORE LGBT NEWS

homosexual-heterosexual hypothis, most neteenth century sexuali are. f to the current world of the homosexual-heterosexual hypothis.

Men Before Homosexualy, (Chigo, IL: Universy of Chigo Prs, 2001). C., signalg the war’s begng, s gay Conferate and Unn soldiers didn’t have to worry about the morn famo DADT policy, which blatantly discrimated agast gay, lbian and bisexual servicemembers.

TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY

” And “un hn, ” the big battleground issue durg the fight to repeal DADT which posed that the “homosexual gaze” would be the root e for disptn (which was totally bunked by a 2002 study), was not an issue. But the qutn, some would argue, of who were LGBTQ service members and who weren’t the Amerin Civil War is a disgenuo query sce the words “homosexual” and “heterosexual” weren’t part of the Amerin lexin until thirty years after the war end.

However, many would also argue that not havg a word like “homosexual” back the day of the Civil War to pict same-sex attractn among soldiers do not negate our e of to scribe them this prent day. Usg archival documents such as urt-martial and medil rerds, newspaper articl, pornographic books and rds, and letters and diari of the soldiers, Lowry’s foc was to addrs the problem of prostutn – straight and gay – and why both the Unn and Conferate Armi had to work to stop sexually transmted fectns om cripplg their soldiers, bee STIs were stg more soldier’s health and liv than actn on the battlefield.

AMERI'S GAY CONFERATE AND UNN SOLDIERS

Sce gay and bisexual men were nsired a fay un, the Greeks knew that paired male lovers assigned to the same battalns were a ary asset.

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

"The story of GLBT don't start wh Queer as Folk, " says Ang, an assistant profsor of stud art at Maryville Universy St., who is gay, beme terted cross-drsg Civil War soldiers after happeng upon a few imag of women who prented as male orr to fight the nflict. "Even though the inty of eher a gay male or a lbian or a bisexual or a trans person did not exist at this time, they did exist, " says the photos, which he prevly exhibed at his universy and hop to take to LGBT centers around the natn, he seeks to regnize the soldiers as pneers the movements for women's and LGBT equaly.

"He not that there is still bias agast transgenr people on the part of some lbian, gay, and bisexual dividuals.

Ang not that if there had been a ncept of gay male inty at the time, she and her hband would have appeared to be a gay uple; men uld be openly affectnate and even sexual wh each other, and such activy was labeled bad behavr rather that an ditor of a person's inty.

THE GRAVE AND THE GAY: THE CIVIL WAR ON THE GILD AGE LECTURE CIRCU

"Today Franc Clayton would be straight, but an odd twist of fate she n be argued to be an early hero for the rights of gay men, " he says. I was exced when Roanne Gay was announced to be the first black women to wre for Marvel and I am even more exced now that those stori are g out:. “I’m focg on black women and the two lead characters are a relatnship, ” Gay told HuffPost.

Wrer Michael Albo asks the ever important qutn: Did the Inter Make Datg Worse for Gay People?

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.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR

The Grave and the Gay: The Civil War on the Gild Age Lecture Circu - The Journal of the Civil War Era.

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