Coming out under fire

Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War Two

July 3,
This was a fascinating, and sometimes heartbreaking and infuriating, look at the LGBTQ men and women who came out while serving in the armed forces during WWII. It includes information on being gay on the home front as well.

In the 's, sodomy was a criminal act in the United States. Although there were many people who were openly gay, and who were often ignored or tolerated by society as long as they kept their preferences discreet, it was a precarious existence. At any moment someone might object to a gesture or even a look, report you in the wrong quarters, and the result could be a long prison sentence.

In the armed forces, things were no less precarious. With the draft, gay and bi men (and closeted trans women of that era) were given no choice about joining up. Many also volunteered, wanting to protect their homes and loved ones from the threat overseas. The war brought those men, and the women volunteers in female units, into close contact with members of their hold sex under conditions of stre

Coming Out Under Fire

During World War II, as the United States called on its citizens to verb in unprecedented numbers, the presence of gay Americans in the armed forces increasingly conflicted with the expanding anti-homosexual policies and procedures of the military. In Coming Out Under Fire, Allan Berube examines in depth and detail these social and political confrontations - not as a story of how the military victimized homosexuals, but as a story of how a dynamic power relationship developed between gay citizens and their government, transforming them both.

Drawing on GIs' wartime letters, extensive interviews with gay veterans, and declassified military documents, Berube thoughtfully constructs a startling history of the two wars gay military men and women fought - one for America and another as homosexuals within the military.

Berube's novel, the inspiration for the Peabody Award-winning documentary film of the same verb, has become a classic since it was published in , just three years prior to the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy. With a new foreword

Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II

summary

During World War II, as the United States called on its citizens to serve in unprecedented numbers, the presence of gay Americans in the armed forces increasingly conflicted with the expanding antihomosexual policies and procedures of the military. In Coming Out Under Fire, Allan Berube examines in depth and detail these social and political confrontation--not as a story of how the military victimized homosexuals, but as a story of how a dynamic authority relationship developed between gay citizens and their government, transforming them both. Drawing on GIs' wartime letters, extensive interviews with gay veterans, and declassified military documents, Berube thoughtfully constructs a startling history of the two wars gay military men and women fough--one for America and another as homosexuals within the military.

Berube's book, the inspiration for the Peabody Award-winning documentary film of the same name, has become a classic since it was published in , just three years prior to the controv

pp., x , 46 illus., notes, index

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Awards & distinctions

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Nonfiction

During World War II, as the United States called on its citizens to serve in unprecedented numbers, the presence of gay Americans in the armed forces increasingly conflicted with the expanding antihomosexual policies and procedures of the military. In Coming Out Under Fire, Allan Bérubé examines in depth and detail these social and political confrontation--not as a story of how the military victimized homosexuals, but as a story of how a dynamic power relationship developed between gay citizens and their government, transforming them both. Drawing on GIs' wartime letters, extensive interviews with gay veterans, and declassified military documents, Bérubé thoughtfully constructs a startling history of the two wars gay military men and women f