Analysis Of Coming Out Under Fire

1162 Words3 Pages

Allen Berubé uses this book to describe the persecution of homosexual men and women in the U.S. Army. In Coming Out Under Fire, Berube explains the challenges faced by homosexuals trying to serve the United States and the awakening of the gay rights movement. Berubé examines in depth and detail these social and political confrontation. It was not simply written to explain how the military victimized homosexyals, but as a story to explain the dynamic power relationship developed between gay citizens and their government. Which then allowed both parts to change and grow. His story is the timeline of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” from 1916 until 2003. The military had to decide if homosexuality was or was not compatible with war. They decided it …show more content…

The military and many citizens condemned, humiliated, and sought to isolate homosexuals from being involved in the military or within their public life. The Second World War provided the opportunity for homosexuals to work together in order to have a plan for retaliation towards their persecution. Although the persecution was not easy, Berube argues that these past events forced lesbians and gays to come together which gave them the ability to develop a nationwide community for all homosexuals. Forced into the spotlight by the oppressive and fearful military apparatus and the unsure public, allowing them not to be hidden by this society anymore, homosexuals began to fight for equal rights in America and embrace who they really …show more content…

Personally, some of the language I wish had tried to pull the reader in more and have a call to action. Where this book more just let the reader know what happened, rather than point out that it was wrong and that one should have feelings towards it. The language would have strongly pushed persuasive vs. merely informative work. This book, however, seems reluctant to accept one of the book 's dominant themes: that not all gays faced discrimination. In fact, many homosexuals during World War II found love, happiness, and a shared sense of camaraderie previously unavailable to them in small-town America or in their

Show More
Related

  • The Antigay Movement In Vicki L. Eaklor's Queer America

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Vicki L. Eaklor’s Queer America, the experiences of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people in the years since the 1970s gay liberation movement are described as a time of transformation and growth. The antigay movement, threatened, now more than ever, created numerous challenges and obstacles that are still prevalent today. Many of the important changes made associated with the movement were introduced through queer and queer allied individuals and groups involved in politics. Small victories such as the revision of the anti discrimination statement to include “sexual orientation”, new propositions regarding the Equal Rights Amendment and legalized abortion, were met in turn with growing animosity and resistance from individuals and groups opposed to liberal and

    Read More

  • Historical Impact of The Stonewall Riots in Stonewall

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    Historian David Carter, provides an intriguing in-depth look into the historical impact of the Stonewall Riots in Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution. This engaging book adds to the genre of sexual orientation discrimination. Carter extensively analyzes the various factors that played a role in igniting the Stonewall riots and the historical impact that the riots had on the Gay Revolution and movement for gay equality. Through the use of interviews, newspapers, and maps, Carter argues that the riots were a product of many geographical, social, political, and cultural factors. Carter further argues that the riots ultimately led to the forming of the Gay Revolution and caused sexual orientation to be a protected category in the growing movement for civil rights. Carter’s book provides a well-structured argument, supported mainly by primary evidence, into the different factors that contributed to the riots as well as a detailed account of the events that transpired during the riots and the political attitudes towards homosexuality in America during this time.

    Read More

  • George Chauncey on Gay Life in New York City

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...e social changes brought about this period. He cites the growing sensationalism of sex covered in the media as a prime driver behind the sexual orthodoxy in American culture (Chauncey 1994, 359). During this witch hunt, he draws a silver lining. Using the scholarship of others such as John D’Emilio, he cites that this period brought a greater bond to the gay community by forging brotherhood of adversity which would then come back into play in the 1960’s as an experiential touchstone for the Civil Rights era (Chauncey 1994, 360). Chauncey nestles his own narrative of the gay community in New York within the larger narrative of gay life in America filling in the gaps of secondary sources through his own primary work.

    Read More

  • Independence Day: Harvey Fierstein

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... homosexual being felt in the world around the 1970’s and 1980’s. The time period in which this play was written was one of great dissonance to the LGBT movement. For Harvey Fierstein to be so bold and public with his own lifestyle was truly admirable and brave. Fierstein shows us that ignorance can destroy a life because of what is unknown.

    Read More

  • Comparison of The Crucible And Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frank, Nathaniel. Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America. New York: Thomas Dunne, 2009. Print.

    Read More

  • The Stonewall Riots

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    homosexual liberation. Some have demonstrated their anger and concerns about prejudice against homosexuals in both riots and artistic forms. Therefore, these people seek to prove to the heterosexual world that homosexual ‘deviancy’ was a myth.

    Read More

  • Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy

    1747 Words  | 4 Pages

    Whitlock, Craig, and Greg Jaffe. "Pentagon supports ending 'don't ask, don't tell' law for gays in military." Washington Post 3 February 2010, Print.

    Read More

  • Sexual Orientation Discrimination in the Military

    1873 Words  | 4 Pages

    In September 2011, the United States lifted the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (DADT), which restricted gay, lesbian, and bisexuals from openly serving in the military. This was the first time in American history in which people of every sexual orientation could serve openly (“11 Facts About,” n.d.). This was a momentous occasion for some and not so much for others. For those military members that had served in secret and those members that were firmly against gays and lesbians, this repeal had different meaning. Both groups contained members that have served in the military for years and were products of the Former President Bill Clinton’s 1993 “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. For many soldiers of this era, communication issues arose due to a pre-existing mentality, learned rules and regulations in services reinforced for two decades and the general cultural within combat related fields.

    Read More

  • The Stonewall Riots

    1946 Words  | 4 Pages

    Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their lives. Geanne Harwood, interviewed on an National Public Radio Broadcast commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, said that “being gay before Stonewall was a very difficult proposition … we felt that in order to survive we had to try to look and act as rugged and as manly as possibly to get by in a society that was really very much against us.” The age of communist threats, and of Joseph McCarthy’s insistence that homosexuals were treacherous, gave credence to the feeling of most society members that homosexuality was a perversion, and that one inflicted was one to not be trusted.

    Read More

  • Harvey Milk

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    The background of homosexuality in the 1940’s and 50’s was harsh, but people started to be opened toward the rights. There were criticisms toward homosexuality in the early days of Milk. Gay men carried the labels of mentally ill or psychopathic. Often times, gay men committed suicide from harsh judgement and criticism that always followed them. Even though population of homosexuality grew and had jobs, they were harassed and beaten by the police. There were a lot of disapproval and hostility of homosexuality. Anita Bryant, a singer, made a campaign to oppose the rights of homosexuals. Christian forces and activists withdrew gay-right legislation which lead to Proposition 6. The harshness from background of homosexuality back in the 1940’s and 50’s took the freedom away from the homosexuals. After the harshness, there came a little bit of hope for the homosexuals in San Francisco. Castro, a city in San Francisco, became the center of gay neighborhood. In 1964, gay men formed Society of Individual Right (SIR), and 1,200 members joined. Homosexuals started having good views when Sipple who was gay saved the president from a gunshot. Finally in 1972, Board of Supervisor banned the discrimination law for homosexuals. Even though in 1940...

    Read More

  • The Social Control Mechanism

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    In, Body Work by Sara Paretsky, the Guaman family’s homophobia damages their family by causing both Allie’s rape and death, and the covering up of them. Homophobia manages to cause all of this damage because it is a powerful social control mechanism, meaning it leads individuals towards conformity, and shames and or ostracizes those who don’t conform to the societal norm. In this case, the societal norm is heterosexuality, and homosexuals are shamed and ostracized for deviating from that norm. Allie is ashamed of being a lesbian and decides to serve in Iraq in the hope that she can repent for her “sins,” and her family is so ashamed of her homosexuality that they must deny it, which allows Tintrey to cover up the truth behind Allie’s death.

    Read More

  • The Gay Rights Movement

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as in the 1950's president Eisenhower banned gays from holding federal jobs and many state institutions did the same. The lead taken by the federal government encouraged local police forces to harass gay citizens. "Vice officers regularly raided gay bars, sometimes arresting dozens of men and women on a single night" (Milestones). In spite of the adversity, out of the 1950s also came the first organized groups of gays, including leaders. The movement was small at first, but grew exponentially in short periods of time. Spurred on by the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the "homophile" (Milestones) movement took on more visibility, picketing government agencies and discriminatory policies. By 1969, around 50 gay organizations existed in the United States. The most crucial moment in blowing the gay rights movement wide open was on the evening of July 27, 1969, when a group of police raided a gay bar in New York City. This act prompted three days of rioting in the area called the Stonewall Rio...

    Read More

  • Theme Of Homosexuality In A Separate Peace

    1376 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 1940s, homophobia was extremely prevalent in the United States. People who were openly gay were often stigmatized. “Homosexuality was discussed as ‘an aspect of three personality disorders: psychopaths who were sexual perverts, paranoid personalities who suffered from homosexual panic, and schizoid personalities’ who displayed gay symptoms” (Kaiser 29). Many regulations and practices discriminated against gays. The military found homosexuality to be a direct threat to strength and safety of the U.S. government and the American people, in general. In 1941 the Army and the Selective Service banned homosexuals from participation in the war (Kaiser 29). All major religions considered it sinful and throughout the country, more and more people found it to be immoral. Life was hard for homosexuals in the early and mid-twentieth century. They were forced to hide their sexuality in order to escape derision or imprisonment.

    Read More

  • Homosexuality In Tony Kushner's Angle In America

    569 Words  | 2 Pages

    Angle in America by Tony Kushner explores the critical issue of what it means to be a homosexual at a time when Republican Right Wing ideals dictated the country with anti-gay propaganda. Many characters in the book are homosexuals struggling to fit in the conservative society at the time wether they followed those ideologies or not. The already isolated queer community faced even more backlash as the AIDS became a negative label associated with them. But not everyones struggle with homosexuality came from a desire to be treated as an equal and have legal rights, some struggle with self acceptance. Joe Pitt, a deeply closeted homosexual with strong religious values and Left Wing ideologies, struggles with his own sexual identity and is unable to come to peace with who he is.

    Read More

  • gay literature

    1585 Words  | 4 Pages

    This quote addresses directly the primary difficulty of the issue. The terms gay and lesbian are useful in literature in that they allow a group of people who have been marginalised and even persecuted to become visible. They enable a way of life and a set of identities, harmonious or conflicting, to be presented, to be questioned, to be understood and accepted. As categories they create ‘space’ in which there may develop a more evolved understanding of texts and they also create a genre within which many lesbian and gay writers are comfortable with being placed. A gendered reading of a text can reveal undercurrents and depths which might otherwise not be apparent. These categories also make ‘space’ for the author within the text which leads to a closer tie between the author and the reader in the reading process.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Coming Out Under Fire

Open Document