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 | 1950-DEC-16: In the 1950s, the ban on homosexual employees extended
to the entire federal government: "A Senate investigating group labeled sexual
perverts ...as dangerous security risks and demanded strict and careful
screening to keep them off the Government payroll. It said that many Federal
agencies had not taken ;adequate steps to get these people out of
Government'." 1 In
1950, a homosexual orientation was still considered a mental illness; homosexuals
were considered to be sexual perverts, and the first meaningful study of
homosexuals by Evelyn Hooper was still in the future. Many people failed to
see the circularity of this argument:
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| 1956-MAR-09: "British security arrangements will be tightened to detect Communist associations or sympathies and drunkenness, narcotic addiction and homosexuality among Government employees." 2 | ||||||
| 1964-JAN-06: "Homosexuals and narcotics addicts who come here [New York City] from other parts of the country are said to account in part for a comparatively high rate of medical rejection for military service for psychiatric reasons." in New York City military recruitment offices.3 This was an era when homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness. Thus gays were automatically rejected "for psychiatric reasons." | ||||||
| 1965-MAY-30: "Nine men and three women picketed the White House today to protest what they called Government discrimination against homosexuals." 4 This news item was stashed away on Page 42 of the New York Times. | ||||||
| 1966-APR-15: "11 in Coast Guard in Jersey are ousted as Homosexuals." 5 | ||||||
| 1966-APR-17: "A national campaign to end the exclusion of homosexuals from the armed forces was set in motion..." in Los Angeles. 6 The New York Times still referred to homosexuals as "deviates." | ||||||
| 1969-JUN-29: "Homo nest raided; Queen bees are stinging mad." During a raid by the New York City tactical police at the Stonewall Inn, a popular Greenwich Village gay bar, something unusual happened. The gays, lesbians, and transsexuals fought back. This is generally regarded as the beginning of the Gay Liberation movement. | ||||||
| 1969-JUL-03: "Hostile crowd dispersed near Sheridan Square....Last night, a chanting crowd of about 500 persons was scattered by members of the Tactical Patrol force and police of the Charles Street Station..." | ||||||
| 1971-JUL-19: "A new study of homosexuality from the Institute for Sex Research, founded by the late Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey, has concluded that the military policy of the United States toward homosexuals is 'unwise, unjust and in essence unenforceable'." 7 | ||||||
| 1971-OCT-03: Review of a book by Colin J. Williams and Martin S. Weinberg titled: "Homosexuals and the Military; A Study of Less Than Honorable Discharge. Harper & Row. Price: $8.95. | ||||||
| 1972-MAR-22: An administration board recommended that Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Arthur Dunbar, an "avowed homosexual" Marine, be given an undesirable discharge. | ||||||
| 1974-MAR-21: During the previous fiscal year, the armed forces discharged 372 servicepersons for "homosexual tendencies." | ||||||
| 1974-MAY-19: A new study of homosexual men in the United States, the Netherlands and Denmark confirmed the pioneering work by Evelyn Hooker a generation earlier. They found their "psychological well being" as good as other men's and urges that homosexuals "end their tradition of silence" to fight discrimination. | ||||||
| 1975-JUL-05: Two lesbians were dismissed from the Army. | ||||||
| 1975-SEP-25: Sgt. Leonard Philip Matlovich was a one-time Goldwater conservative who flew the flag each day from an 18-foot staff in front of his apartment, served three tours in Vietnam, was severely wounded when he stepped on a land mine there and can, when he chooses, wear the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He was recommended for a general discharge against his will because he is a homosexual. | ||||||
| 1976-MAR-30: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that states had the power to criminalize consensual, private same-sex behavior.It confirmed this decision a decade later [Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986)] The court apologized for the latter decision in 2003 and reversed it in Lawrence v. Texas. | ||||||
| 1976-MAR-23: A Navy ensign, Vernon E. Berg III, contested an administrative board's recommendation for his discharge as an acknowledged homosexual, said that a Defense Department statement declares homosexuality in and of itself is not cause for mandatory discharge. | ||||||
| 1976-MAY-22: EnsignBerg received notice of a dishonorable discharge from the Navy." | ||||||
| 1977-MAR-27: Leaders of the gay-rights movement met with a Presidential aide to lobby for an end to discrimination against homosexuals in Federal law. | ||||||
| 1978-DEC-08: "Navy and Air Force began major reviews of policies concerning homosexuals today after a ruling by a United States Court of Appeals that placed limits on the practice of automatically dismissing homosexuals from the military." | ||||||
| 1978-DEC-07: The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that two homosexuals were unfairly discharged from the military. | ||||||
| 1978-DEC-12: "....the operating policy of the armed forces toward homosexuals seems to have been to tolerate them as long as they were in the closet or only half out, and to discharge them from service when publicity threatened." | ||||||
| 1979-OCT-15: "An enthusiastic crowd of at least 75,000 people from around the country paraded through the capital today in a homosexual rights march and gathered afterward on the grounds of the Washington Monument to marvel at their own numbers and to urge passage of legislation to protect the rights of homosexuals." | ||||||
| 1980-SEP-04: Editorial: "The Navy's lengthy hearings on charges of homosexual behavior against eight female sailors were a worrisome spectacle. The drama before a three-person panel in California raised disturbing questions about the quality of military justice and also about the military's unchanging hostility toward homosexuality." | ||||||
| 1980-SEP-09: Leonard P. Matlovich was dismissed from the military in 1975 because he admitted that he was a homosexual. He launched a lawsuit to obtain reinstatement in the Air Force. A Federal district judge, ruling that the military had confusing standards for dealing with homosexual service personnel, ordered the Air Force to reinstate Leonard Matlovich. Two months later, in exchange for a $160,000 settlement, he agreed to not seek reinstatement. |
References used:
- "Federal Vigilance on Perverts Asked; Senate Group Says They Must Be Kept Out of Government Because of Security Risk Called 'Prey to Blackmailers' Tightening Laws Urged," New York Times, 1950-DEC-16, Page 3.
- Drew Middleton, "Britain Revising Security System; Adopts Plans for Detection of Reds and Sympathizers in Government Employ Detention of Suspects Wide Scope Stressed," New York Times, 1956-MAR-09, Page 7.
- Farnsworth Fowle, "Influx of Deviates and Addicts Linked to City Draft Rejections," New York Times, 1964-JAN-06, Page 10.
- "Homosexuals Stage Protest in Capital," New York Times, 1965-MAY-30, Page 42.
- "11 in Coast Guard in Jersey Are Ousted as Homosexuals," New York Times 1966-APR-15, Page 20.
- Peter Bart, "War Role Sought for Homosexuals; Groups to Aid Deviates Ask End to Pentagon Ban,", New York Times, 1966-APR-17, Page 12.
- Lawrence Van Gelder, "Armed Forces Assailed On View of Homosexuals; Researchers' Study Terms U.S. Policy 'Unwise' and 'Unjust' and States Authorities 'Pursue Group'," New York Times, 1971-JUL-19, Page 32.
- Dotson Rader, book reviews, New York Times, 1971-OCT-03, Page BR5 to 6.
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Home page > Homosexuality > Laws > Military > here |
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Home page > "Hot" religious topics > Homosexuality > Laws > Military > here |
Copyright © 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally posted: 2005-DEC-11
Latest update: 2005-DEC-11
Author: B.A. Robinson
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