who understood them. This offered the opportunity for gay men to overcome the isolation they may have felt and to recognize that their sexuality was not something to be ashamed of because so many other men had the same experiences. Once gay men and women found each other and formed strong friendships and romantic relationships they started to socialize with other gay and lesbian people. On the weekends and when they went off bases, men and women went into cities and were introduced to other LGBTQ people and places (1). They learned and became socialized into LGBTQ culture (1). One GI, Bert Getis, described the social events that his other gay friends would introduce him to, “There was this wonderful queen of gay society in Louisville. He had wonderful parties for gay men and women. That was the first time I ever went to parties where there were gay women also” (1). Gay men and lesbian women started to socialize with each other in large numbers because they were able to build communities and move past the shame and isolation they previously felt about their identities. Unfortunately, the visibility that LGBTQ people in the military found also led to unjust backlash from the United States Government. While LGBTQ people became more confident in their identities and started to create meaningful relationships with each other, the government enlisted anti-gay policies (3). The government deemed homosexuality unnatural and deviant and decided that LGBTQ soldiers had no place in the service (4). To remove them from the service they asked screening questions and gave any suspected LGBTQ person a dishonorable discharge (1). Dishonorable discharges, also known as blue discharges, prevented veterans from obtaining benefits provided by the government as well as jobs because of the negative connotations associated PAGE 16 VOL. 2, NO. 1 ZEITGEIST women at all. We trained exactly like any other military unit” (5). In the WAAC women were trained to work with the same expectations and methods as men were (7). The uniform that the WAAC women had to wear also deviated from the societal norms of the time (1). Pat Bond described the uniforms as follows, “We wore what amounted to a men’s uniform except we wore a skirt. We wore a tie, and we wore an Eisenhower jacket. And your hair had to be off your collar- it had to be that short” (1). WAAC women were given the chance to exist outside of gender stereotypes that had been enforced upon them their whole lives. This served as a genderaffirming experience for many people, allowing them to become more comfortable with themselves and live according to their identities. Gay men who enlisted in the military experienced a similar ability to pursue gay relationships and community unlike they had experienced before. The military brought large numbers of gay men together, allowing communities to form. Arch Wilson, a GI enlisted in the military, described his experience of finding other gay men and coming to terms with his sexuality because of the military, “...I began to look for more types like me. I was, of course, surrounded by men all the time, but having little opportunity to do anything about it. The attractions were, of course, very powerful. In fact, by the time I got out of the service, I was pretty sure that was the direction I was going to go” (5). Oftentimes gay men would form strong groups with each other (1). Allan Bérubé describes the motivation behind forming cliques and their function as follows, “To protect themselves from ostracization or ridicule gay men could band together in cliques…Cliques gave lonely trainees that chance to belong to a group of like-minded friendsa home away from home” (1). In the large male-only environment the military offered, gay men were able to find each other, people they could connect with,
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