These federal discriminatory actions drove LGBTQ people further into the shadows of society and emboldened law enforcement and politicians, who became more violent toward gay and lesbian citizens. Over 5,000 federal employees lost their jobs over accusations of homosexuality. In 1953, President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450, that banned homosexuals from federal employment. Blue discharges followed veterans their entire lives and made them ineligible for all veteran services.
The systematic purges of bases and units ripped apart the communities and relationships that had been developed over shared sacrifices. Image courtesy of Deep Focus Productions.įor many, World War II marked only the start of life-long struggles with their identity. Phyllis Arby and Mildred, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. Service members who were persecuted by a section 8 blue discharge were purged from bases and units and sent to mental institutions and make-shift quarantined brigs where they suffered from isolation, depression, and humiliation, and were stripped of their rights and dignity. Such a move created an efficient system of discrimination and prosecution of homosexual members of the military.
In other words, instead of charging service members with a crime of behavior or action, the military charged service members with a crime of being. Instead of charging individuals with sodomy, a court-martialed offense, the military began identifying suspected homosexuals as psychopaths. People who were gay and lesbian were forced to answer questions vaguely, or lie about their sexuality, in order to be allowed to serve otherwise, they would run the risk of being sent home and branded as “sex perverts.”īy the middle of the war, the military sought new ways to target and expel homosexuals. The United States military, hoping to screen out mentally ill individuals, asked every potential service member questions on their sexuality. Mental illness was one condition that disqualified young people from service. At the time, homosexuality was classified as a mental illness by the medical community. We hear from nine veterans who, like all Americans, were asked to do their part.
The film takes us back to World War II for a detailed look at the origins of the policy. This film can and should be seen as not only a social commentary against the policy, but also an expression of the human cost behind such discrimination. The intense nation-wide debate resulted in congressional hearings where each member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff voiced supportive opinions of the policy and a reassertion of the policy by President Clinton. In 1993, the United States was debating the discriminatory “Don’t ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding homosexuals in the modern military. However, it is important to place the film into its historical context. The film is based on a book written by historian Allan Bérubé. The 1994 documentary, Coming Out Under Fire, gives voice to the experiences of thousands of gay and lesbian service members who joined the military during World War II, a story that is largely ignored by historians and museums across the country. Liebman and more than 9,000 American service members, however, eventually were given a section-8 ‘blue discharge’ for being homosexual. At the age of 19, Marvin Liebman was drafted into the Special Services, US Army Air Corps during the waning years of World War II.