LGBTQ

Coming Out Against the War: Antimilitarism and the Politicization of Homosexuality in the Era of Vietnam

Citation:

Suran, Justin David. 2001. “Coming Out Against the War: Antimilitarism and the Politicization of Homosexuality in the Era of Vietnam.” American Quarterly 53 (3): 452-88. doi:10.1353/aq.2001.0030.

Author: Justin David Suran

Keywords: LGBT, homosexuality, U.S. military

Topics: LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2001

Strange Bedfellows: War and Minority Rights

Citation:

Saldin, Robert P. 2011. “Strange Bedfellows: War and Minority Rights.” World Affairs 173 (6): 57–66.

Author: Robert P. Saldin

Abstract:

An article is presented that reports on the connection between war and minority rights, describing the ties between conflict and the development of civil rights and liberties. The article discusses how minority groups contribute to war efforts, noting historical examples related to women's suffrage and African American soldiers in World War II. Information is provided on the U.S. armed forces and the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy prohibiting gays from openly serving in the military, speaking to the moral and practical aspects of the repeal by President Barack Obama. (EBSCO)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Society, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Rights Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2011

Attitudes of Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans toward Gay and Lesbian Service Members

Citation:

Moradi, Bonnie, and Laura Miller. 2010. “Attitudes of Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans toward Gay and Lesbian Service Members." Armed Forces & Society 36 (3): 397–419. doi:10.1177/0095327X09352960.

Authors: Bonnie Moradi, Laura Miller

Abstract:

U.S. policy banning openly gay and lesbian personnel from serving in its military rests on the belief that heterosexual discomfort with lesbian and gay service members in an integrated environment would degrade unit cohesion and readiness. To inform this policy, data from a 2006 survey of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are analyzed in this study. Views of these war veterans are consistent with prior surveys of military personnel showing declining support for the policy: from about 75 percent in 1993 to 40 percent in this survey. Among the demographic and military experience variables analyzed, comfort level with lesbian and gay people was the strongest correlate of attitudes toward the ban. War veterans indicated that the strongest argument against the ban is that sexual orientation is unrelated to job performance and that the strongest argument in favor of the ban is a projected negative impact on unit cohesion. However, analyses of these war veterans' ratings of unit cohesion and readiness revealed that knowing a gay or lesbian unit member is not uniquely associated with cohesion or readiness; instead, the quality of leaders, the quality of equipment, and the quality of training are the critical factors associated with unit cohesion and readiness.

Keywords: LGBT, homosexuality, veterans, Don't Ask Don't Tell, U.S. military, United States

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Sexuality Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2010

The Pink Triangle and Political Consciousness: Gays, Lesbians, and the Memory of Nazi Persecution

Citation:

Jensen, Erik N. 2002. “The Pink Triangle and Political Consciousness: Gays, Lesbians, and the Memory of Nazi Persecution.” Journal of the History of Sexuality 11 (1/2): 319–49.

Author: Erik N. Jensen

Abstract:

The article presents information on gay, lesbians and the memory of Nazi persecution. The gay and lesbians perceived oppression for a long historical pattern that extended from Nazi era to the presents. The article traces the evolution over the past thirty years of collective memories in both the American and German gay communities in order to show what these communities have remembered and why. The article shows how cleavages in the communities have fostered alternate memories and how the American and German memories reflect different national experiences. Furthermore., many gays and lesbians remain altogether unaware of the historical significance of the pink triangle. Nevertheless, a larger memory has emerged that, despite differences, does contain shared symbols, narratives, and referents and has significantly influenced the consciousness of the broader gay and lesbian community. After struggling through the lean years of the 1940s, most gay men and women sought sanctuary in the economic boom of the 1950s; along with other West Germans, they avoided reminders of a painful past during which some had sympathized with the regime, even as others had faced persecution. (EBSCO)

Keywords: LGBT, United States, armed forces

Topics: LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups Regions: Americas, North America, Europe, Central Europe Countries: Germany, United States of America

Year: 2002

‘Dykes’ or ‘Whores’: Sexuality and the Women’s Army Corps in the United States during World War II

Citation:

Hampf, M.Michaela. 2004. " 'Dykes' or 'Whores': Sexuality and the Women's Army Corps in the United States during World War II." Women's Studies International Forum 27 (1): 13-30. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2003.12.007.

Author: M. Michaela Hampf

Abstract:

When the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was founded in the United States in 1943, utilizing American womanpower was a matter of military expediency. At the same time, military service provided many women with mobility, education, and greater economic and personal autonomy. Women soldiers were subject to rumors and hostility by the public and media that found the stereotypical ‘feminine’ to be irreconcilable with the stereotypically masculine ‘soldier’ and considered both lesbian and heterosexual women’s sexual agency a threat to military masculinity and established gender roles. Archival records of the US Army show that women’s sexuality was controlled by discourses of desexualization and/or hypersexualization, by policies denying their sexual agency and of their victimization. The WAC leadership created an image of the ‘‘respectable’’ female soldier based on assumptions about the class and race nature of sexual morality. During the Second World War (WWII), military psychiatrists’ focus on homosexuality shifted from criminal to medical concepts. Concerns over lesbianism in the Corps, which was the apotheosis of cultural anxieties over women’s entrance into the military, highlight the performative nature and the close connections between the categories gender and sexuality.

Keywords: homosexuality, LGBT, U.S. military, United States, World War II, gender roles, militarised masculinity

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2004

Ask and Tell: Gay Veterans, Identity, and Oral History on a Civil Rights Frontier

Citation:

Estes, Steve. 2005. “Ask and Tell: Gay Veterans, Identity, and Oral History on a Civil Rights Frontier.” Oral History Review 32 (2): 21–47.

Author: Steve Estes

Abstract:

In 1993 the "don't ask don't tell" policy legislated the silence of gay and lesbian soldiers on active duty and in the reserves. This silence about gays in the military has led to a collective amnesia about the patriotic service and courageous sacrifices of homosexual troops. If we forget that gay and lesbian Americans have served their country, then we as a nation are much less likely to view them as full citizens, deserving of civil rights and equal protection of the law. Oral history provides one way to break this silence, to ‘ask and tell’ about the military careers of gay and lesbian soldiers and to allow these veterans to speak for themselves about the current military policy. Based on more than fifty interviews with gay and lesbian veterans, this article chronicles the evolution of military policy regarding homosexuality since World War II, and it explores the intersection of veterans' identities based on race, sexuality, and military service. As these interviews illustrate, gays and lesbians have served honorably in the military during times of war and peace. Far from undermining unit cohesion or morale, these troops have strengthened America's armed forces. Interviews with gay and lesbian veterans provide an Opportunity to explore several themes underlying the debate about homosexuality and military service: 1) the relationship between racism and homophobia in the military; 2) varying attitudes about military service within gay communities; 3) contrasting experiences of gay men and lesbians in the military; and 4) the evolving nature of gay veterans' identities.

Keywords: LGBT, U.S. military, United States, homosexuality, Don't Ask Don't Tell

Topics: LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2005

Medical Aspects of Transgender Military Service

Citation:

Elders, M. Joycelyn, George R. Brown, Eli Coleman, Tomas A. Kolditz, and Alan M. Steinman. 2015. “Medical Aspects of Transgender Military Service.” Armed Forces & Society 41 (2): 199–220. doi:10.1177/0095327X14545625.

Authors: M. Joycelyn Elders, George R. Brown, Eli Coleman, Thomas A. Kolditz, Alan M. Steinman

Abstract:

At least eighteen countries allow transgender personnel to serve openly, but the United States is not among them. In this article, we assess whether US military policies that ban transgender service members are based on medically sound rationales. To do so, we analyze Defense Department regulations and consider a wide range of medical data. Our conclusion is that there is no compelling medical reason for the ban on service by transgender personnel, that the ban is an unnecessary barrier to health care access for transgender personnel, and that medical care for transgender individuals should be managed using the same standards that apply to all others. Removal of the military’s ban on transgender service would improve health outcomes, enable commanders to better care for their troops, and reflect the military’s commitment to providing outstanding medical care for all military personnel.

Keywords: LGBT, Transgender, health, United States, U.S. military, Don't Ask Don't Tell, mental health

Topics: Health, Mental Health, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2015

Right to Serve or Responsibility to Protect? Civil Rights Framing and the DADT Repeal

Citation:

Connell, Catherine. 2015. "Right to Serve or Responsibility to Protect? Civil Rights Framing and the DADT Repeal." Boston University Law Review 95: 1015-28.

Author: Catherine Connell

Topics: LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Rights, Sexuality Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2015

Readiness and DADT Repeal: Has the New Policy of Open Service Undermined the Military?

Citation:

Belkin, A., M. G. Ender, N. Frank, S. R. Furia, G. Lucas, G. Packard, S. M. Samuels, T. Schultz, and D. R. Segal. 2013. “Readiness and DADT Repeal: Has the New Policy of Open Service Undermined the Military?” Armed Forces & Society 39 (4): 587–601. doi:10.1177/0095327X12466248.

Authors: Aaron Belkin, Morten G. Ender, Nathaniel Frank, Stacie R. Furia, George Lucas, Gary Packard, Steven M. Samuels, Tammy Schultz, David R. Segal

Abstract:

Prior to the repeal of "don't ask don't tell"(DADT) on September 20, 2011, many observers predicted that allowing lesbian, gay and bisexual troops to serve openly would harm the military, and a group of more than 1,000 retired general and flag officers predicted that repeal could “break the All-Volunteer Force.” This study is the first scholarly effort to assess the accuracy of such predictions about the impact of DADT repeal on military readiness. We conducted our research during the half-year period starting six months after repeal and concluding at the one year mark, and we pursued ten separate research strategies including in-depth interviews, survey analysis, on-site field observations, pretest/posttest quasi experimentation, secondary source analysis, and a comprehensive review of media articles. Our goal was to maximize the likelihood of identifying evidence of damage caused by repeal, and we made vigorous efforts to collect data from repeal opponents including anti-repeal generals and admirals, activists, academic experts, service members and watchdog organizations. Our conclusion, based on all of the evidence available to us, is that DADT repeal has had no overall negative impact on military readiness or its component dimensions, including cohesion, recruitment, retention, assaults, harassment, or morale. If anything, DADT repeal appears to have enhanced the military's ability to pursue its mission.

Keywords: LGBT, Don't Ask Don't Tell, U.S. military, United States

Topics: LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2013

'Who Is the Macho Who Wants to Kill Me?’ Male Homosexuality, Revolutionary Masculinity, and the Brazilian Armed Struggle of the 1960s and 1970s

Citation:

Green, James N. 2012. "'Who Is the Macho Who Wants to Kill Me?' Male Homosexuality, Revolutionary Masculinity, and the Brazilian Armed Struggle of the 1960s and 1970s." Hispanic American Historical Review 92 (3): 437-69. doi:10.1215/00182168-1600288.

Author: James N. Green

Keywords: LGBT, homophobia, homosexuality, armed conflict, non-state actors, Brazil

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Masculinity/ies, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Non-State Armed Groups, Sexuality Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Brazil

Year: 2012

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