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8.GaysintheMilitary.pptGAYS IN THE ARMED FORCES: CHALLENGE OR OPPORTUNITY FOR AMERICAN MILITARY CULTURE
GAYS IN THE MILITARY IS NOTHING NEW
Homosexuals have served as soldiers and sailors through the centuries. (Left) In certain Ancient Greek armies, it appears that gay relationships strengthened unit cohesion. (Right) The fact that Major General Baron Friedrich von Steuben, the popular drillmaster of Washington’s Continental Army, never married has aroused speculation that he was gay.
BARRIERS TO GAY SERVICE DISAPPEARED AROUND THE WORLD
A contingent from the Royal Navy marches in a Gay Pride parade in London around 2008 or 2009.
A PRESIDENT CHALLENGES THE STATUS QUO
DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL:
BILL CLINTON CAVES TO PRESSURE FROM THE RIGHT AND HIS SERVICE CHIEFS
THE EFFECTS OF DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL
More than 13,000 American servicemen and women were expelled from the military for being gay between 1993 and 2010. (Below) A Marine veteran of combat in Iraq who was discharged after he revealed his sexual orientation.
DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL IN ACTION
Pages from a U.S. Army training pamphlet on the proper way to “out” homosexuals in the military.
GROWING PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR GAYS IN THE MILITARY
These photographs were taken during a 2007 protest in Washington, D.C, demanding an end to the ban on open gay service. (Lower right) Representative Barney Franks, Democrat and an openly gay member of Congress, addresses the crowd.
THE MEDIA REFLECTS A SHIFT IN PUBLIC OPINION
A selection of anti-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell editorial cartoons
ARGUMENTS AGAINST GAY SERVICE
Opponents to open gay service claimed that it would undermine discipline and unit cohesion, and also strip servicemen and women of a sense of privacy.
GENERAL PACE SOUNDS OFF
General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, created a firestorm on March 12, 2007, when he said: “I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that [the U.S. military] should not condone immoral acts.”
A STRATEGIC RETREAT
General Pace with his troops of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division on an inspection tour of Iraq.
THE LARGELY CONSERVATIVE AND CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF THE U.S. MILITARY
THE U.S. MILITARY RESISTS DESEGREGATION, 1948-51
(Upper right) President Harry S. Truman. (Below) A segregated black machine gun crew in Korea in 1951.
ACADEMIC BACKLASH
Certain American universities cited the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy to justify banning ROTC from their campuses.
THE DEBATE SEEMED TO STAGNATE . . .
UNTIL THE ELECTION OF A NEW PRESIDENT
(Below) Barack Obama on the campaign trail, 2008. (Right) A protest against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in New York’s Times Square.
POISED FOR A REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE
President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the eve of the release of a Pentagon report paving the way for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
DEFENDING THE CHANGE
Defense Secretary Robert Gates (left) and Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defend the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in a press conference.
THE END OF DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL
President Obama signs the legislation repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell on December 22, 2011.
THE MILITARY PREPARES TO COMPLY WITH THE LAW
Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell classes conducted by U.S. Navy commands in the United States (left) and overseas (below).
A DRAMATIC CHANGE
Two engaged U.S. Navy petty officers exchange a kiss on the dock after the one at left returns from a cruise. Such a scene would have been unthinkable before 2011.
A LITTLE ADVANCE NOTICE
With Lieutenant Colonel Vance Cryer, Marine Corps Attack Squadron 211, MCAS Iwakuni, August 2009.
THE TRANS-GENDER INITIATIVE, JUNE 2016
(Below right) Secretary of Defense Ash Carter informs the Pentagon press corps of the removal of barriers to trans-gender service. (Inset) Captain Jennifer Peace, one of 15,000 trans-gender personnel in service in 2015 before the ban’s elimination.
PRESIDENT TRUMP TRIES TO CLOSE THE DOOR
(Left) President Trump’s infamous tweets of July 26, 2017. (Upper right) Protestors register their disapproval with Trump’s decision. (Lower right) One of the many editorial cartoons taking issue with Trump’s position.
