A Pivotal Era LGBT History? - Gay the 80s

Contents:

• MILARY DRAFT POSSIBILY WEIGHED HEAVILY ON GAY MEN THE ‘80S
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• AS A GAY MAN, THE '80S CRIPPLED MY INTY
• THREE S LATER, MEN WHO SURVIVED THE 'GAY PLAGUE' SPEAK OUT
• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

MILARY DRAFT POSSIBILY WEIGHED HEAVILY ON GAY MEN THE ‘80S

-- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar suatns.It's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn."I don't want to feel like I have to thk about anymore," Maxen said the piece published Thursday afternoon.

Outsi lebacker Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay and to play a game 2021.The Associated Prs ntributed to this report.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

In the UK, the Thatcher ernment created Sectn 28 of the Lol Government Act, makg illegal for lol thori to support anythg that might promote homosexual relatnships as a viable alternative to heterosexual ‘fay life’. And even the US Army, who had clared homosexualy to be “patible wh ary service” 1982, were forced to adm 1989 that gay recs were “jt as good or better” than heterosexuals.

For example, the UK’s ernment add Sectn 28 to their Lol Government Act that ma illegal for lol thori to support anythg that promoted homosexual relatnships as an alternative to a heterosexual “fay life”. Furthermore, 1986 Pope John Pl II labelled beg gay as “evil” and orred the Church to whdraw all support om gay Catholic anizatns. Bee no one really knew anythg about AIDS when spread like wildfire the 80s, many referred to as the “gay plague” and many wanted this to lead to a ban on homosexualy.

Reverenced Jerry Falwell once argued that “AIDS is not jt God’s punishment for homosexuals; is God’s punishment for the society that tolerat homosexuals”. Eric Jimenez-Ldmeier shar his experience growg up as a closeted teen the 80s: “Beg gay the 80s meant beg isolated om an inty.

AS A GAY MAN, THE '80S CRIPPLED MY INTY

There was no discsn of homosexualy school… not even our year long “Health and Sexualy” class, even though we were the middle of the AIDS crisis”.

One was picked on relentlsly for his “gay-soundg” voice, lack of sports abili, and unwillgns to stand up to his bulli”.

In 1980 the Uned Stat, Gay activists won support om the Democratic Party the party add to s platform a nondiscrimatn clse that clud sexual orientatn. This support, along wh the many LGBTQ activist mpaigns, urged gay men and women to “e out of the closet” and enter the polil field as ndidat. Tammy Baldw also beme the first openly gay polician to be elected to both the US Hoe of Reprentativ and the Senate.

THREE S LATER, MEN WHO SURVIVED THE 'GAY PLAGUE' SPEAK OUT

Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love. There are more than 60 untri wh laws that crimalise same-sex sexual acts acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, cludg Sdi Arabia. 'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022.

Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife. The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage". Dpe ary nscriptn endg 1973, the prospect of beg drafted was a scenar on the mds of many gay men the s followg the Vietnam War.

In October 1981, PGN published a feature tled “Beat the draft: How gays n stay out of the ary, ” by Marc Killger. “Not only do ary regulatns prohib homosexualy while the armed forc, prohibs anyone who knows they are gay om enterg the first place, ” Killger wrote.

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Wh the fear of another draft on the horizon, many gay men believed that if they were drafted they uld merely proclaim their homosexualy and not be forced to serve bee they were “medilly exempt. “Announcg that one is eligible for the ary bee of homosexualy means takg the risk that permanent ary rerds are not ed agast one later, eher for the job and reer discrimatn we are routely subjected to, or else the ntext of some far worse anti-gay crackdown. Registerg as a CO was emed as the bt path for draft ristance by longtime gay rights activist Harry Hay, who found the Mattache Society the 1950s.

In fact, so many men had sought a medil exemptn due to homosexualy the 1960s that was taken off of the Medil History Form, and there were no strict guil place that would make one eligible for the medil exemptn. While we now know that a ary draft was not stuted after the Vietnam War, the fear of the 1980s was palpable among the gay muny.