Ayendy Rodriguez
Professor Mitchell
LGBT History
4/17/17
Gay Men and WW2
Introduction:
Throughout history we have seen that sexuality has been a concern among all the civilizations of the world. Many civilizations have accepted homosexuality while others have rejected. Ancient Greek civilization and the most civilized at the time, accepted it because they believe it was human nature. Homosexual actions have been happening since the beginning of human history thousands of years ago. The bible states in Leviticus 18:22 “You must not lie down with a male in the same way that you lie down with a woman. It is a detestable act.” These scriptures have had a controversy for many years due to the interpretation of mankind. They have used the bible’s scriptures interpretation to reject homosexuality overall in the military. The military for many years enlisted homosexuals to have a decent amount of soldiers at the front lines. Despite the military rejecting homosexuality, they
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An example, during WW2 Ian Gleed which fought in WW2 was a homosexual. Ian Gleed hide his sexuality from the military because of fear of rejection and morale. Ian Gleed was a flight Lieutenant that could not overly express his sexuality and his man lovers at the time. The military believed that homosexuality was highly immoral
“Another wartime myth concerned the inability of homosexuals to show bravery under fire. Conscripted in 1941 at the age of 20, Dudley Cave joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. He later recalled a conversation he overheard between two of his comrades. One referred to him as a “nancy boy”, while the other protested that Dudley couldn’t be because he was “terribly brave in action”. Dudley understood that in their minds he could not be brave and homosexual, that the two were incompatible”. (Mason