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Book Review: Coming Out Under Fire – The History of Gay and Lesbian Service Members in World War II

Book Review: Coming Out Under Fire – The History of Gay and Lesbian Service Members in World War II

“Be invisible.” – Marvin Liebman, US Army Air Corps.

The stories of LGBTQ service members in WWII were documented by the book Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay and Lesbian Service Members in World War II by Allan Berube  (1946-2007) and UCPress. Today, the military is much different from the military I joined in 2005 when the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was still in place. It was a much more dangerous and challenging time to be an LGBTQ service member in World War II.

The military in WWII was still segregated; LGBTQ rights were nonexistent, and women’s rights were still being challenged and undermined daily.

“We felt liberated once we had discovered our own secret. We were gay.” –  Tom Reddy, US Marine Corps.

The key to surviving combat was ensuring your buddy next to you had your back. Or, as we call it in the military, “having our six.” WWII was a brutal reminder of how humans could be destructive and violent against each other.

WWII Germany under the Nazis led to an industrial killing machine that excelled in combat and genocide. During the war, there were an estimated six million Jews murdered. This also included LGBTQ folks who were given a pink triangle on their uniforms. Following WWII, the United States Military prosecuted members of the LGBTQ.

Time Magazine stated: Between 1933 and 1945, by the USHMM’s count, an estimated 100,000 men were arrested for violating this law, and about half went to prison. It’s thought that somewhere between 5,000 and 15,000 men were sent to concentration camps for reasons related to sexuality, but exactly how many died in them may never be known, between the scant documentation that survived and the sense of shame that kept many survivors silent for years after their ordeal.

Paragraph 175, which was the law in Germany in WWII, would lead to prosecution, castration, and death. This also included what would be known as a “Pink List’ that the Nazis would keep as a way to track, kill, and prosecute anyone in the LGBTQ community. This pink list would later be used to blackmail members of the German Government and Nazi party into ensuring they did what the Nazis wanted, according to USHMM.

Prisoners wearing pink triangles on their uniforms are marched outdoors by Nazi guards at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany on Dec. 19, 1938. CORBIS/Corbis—Getty Images

Before the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, the U.S. Military would define and criminalize “homosexual behavior” under their UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) as such: Full Text here UCMJ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

“2 10 U.S.C. 925 (2002). According to the explanation provided in the Military Manual for Courts Martial:

It is unnatural carnal copulation for a person to take into that person’s mouth or anus the sexual organ of another person or of an animal; or to place that person’s sexual organ in the mouth or anus of another person or of an animal; or to have carnal copulation in any opening of the body, except the sexual parts, with another person; or to have carnal copulation with an animal. U.S. Department of Defense, Manual for Courts-Martial, 1998, 51(c).”

During WWII, the U.S. Army would define and prosecute servicemen under section-8 ‘blue discharge’ for being homosexual.” This would lead to thousands of LGBTQ service members losing their military benefits and facing higher incarceration rates and prosecution by the civilian society once back home. The book talks about how the military would define and discharge service members under section 8, which would also be described as “mentally dangerous or unstable.”

Currently, the military policy on LGBTQ folks can be found here: DOD LGBTQ+.

“This is the Army” was a GI show put on during World War II. Soldiers represented female characters in military plays, and some homosexual soldiers found refuge from rigid gender roles—image courtesy of Friends of the National WWII Memorial.

Lesbians in WWII were also facing uphill battles with the laws and discrimination of the Military. Phyllis Abry was with the WAAC and served honorably during WWII. She kept her orientation quiet while serving but almost gave it up during an interview while she was deployed. According to the VA, she was asked,“Do you have sex with men?” When Abry said that she did not, they asked her why not. “’ Well, I was brought up to believe that one didn’t have sex until they were married,’ and that was a perfectly acceptable answer.”

Phyllis Arby and Mildred, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. Image courtesy of Deep Focus Productions.

In 1953 then-President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450, which banned LGBTQ people from serving in the federal government. This EO would lead to LGBTQ members not having access to federal jobs and benefits. This led to 5,000 “suspected gay and lesbian” members of the federal government losing their jobs, according to research conducted by the WWII museum.

LGBTQ veterans have had a long fight for equality within the ranks and outside of the ranks. In 2020 alone, then-President Trump signed an executive order banning Transgender Troops from serving. This was overturned in 2021 by President Biden using an Executive Order. The book is very detailed and perfect for anyone wanting to understand what LGBTQ faced. If you like to read the book, it is here: UNC Press.

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