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.
Contents:
- GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
- THE FOTTEN GAY SOLDIERS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
- NEW WWI MOVIE TO FEATURE A GAY LOVE STORY
- WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE GAY DURG WWII
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 world war 2 *
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.
THE FOTTEN GAY SOLDIERS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Elae Tyler May, History Whout Victims: Gays World War II, Reviews Amerin History, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Jun., 1991), pp. 255-259 * gay soldiers world war 2 *
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.
We were gay.”.
NEW WWI MOVIE TO FEATURE A GAY LOVE STORY
Dpe the threat of persecutn, gay and lbian servicemembers thrived durg World War II. 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. Eisenhower signed Executive Orr 10450, which banned homosexuals om feral employment. Over 5,000 feral employe lost their jobs over accatns of homosexualy.
WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE GAY DURG WWII
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.