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.
Contents:
- "COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
- GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
- WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE GAY DURG WWII
- PRIMARY SOURCE SET: GAY MEN THE ARY
"COMG OUT UNR FIRE": THE STORY OF GAY AND LBIAN SERVICEMEMBERS
* gay soldiers in ww2 *
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 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 MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
The Nazi regime rried out a mpaign agast male homosexualy and persecuted gay men between 1933 and 1945. * gay soldiers in ww2 *
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. Instead of chargg dividuals wh sodomy, a urt-martialed offense, the ary began intifyg spected homosexuals as psychopaths.
Such a move created an efficient system of discrimatn and prosecutn of homosexual members of the ary. Dpe the threat of persecutn, gay and lbian servicemembers thrived durg World War II.
WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE GAY DURG WWII
In the early 20th century, the medil tablishment beme fixated wh the ia that gay people uld be “cured.” To achieve this, they turned to a lany of btal practic: om electrotherapy to lobotomi. * gay soldiers in ww2 *
The new iendships gave gay and lbian GIs refuge om the hostily that surround them and allowed for a distct subculture to velop wh the ary. 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.
Soldiers reprented female characters ary plays, and some homosexual soldiers found refuge om rigid genr rol. The irony that the ary selected two homosexuals to reprent the ial image of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was not lost on Abry.
PRIMARY SOURCE SET: GAY MEN THE ARY
Eisenhower signed Executive Orr 10450, which banned homosexuals om feral employment. Over 5, 000 feral employe lost their jobs over accatns of homosexualy.
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. Patrons of the gay bar fought back and sparked a vlent uprisg that started the gay rights movement the Uned Stat. Gay and lbian veterans of World War II beme some of the first to fight ary discrimatn and blue discharg the years followg the war.
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.