In chapter 8 of Eaklor’s “Queer America”, we get to see how the military’s ban and restrictions of accepting a gay person into the military affected the queer community. The military has always been strict on its requirements to see who is fit enough to join the military. Usually they turn away people for a disability, a chronic illness, or perhaps lacking the physical structure needed to perform diligently. However, they now deem being gay also a means to deny entry into the military forces. Even if you were already in the military, if you announce that you are openly gay, they then can discharge you without any compensation or an explanation.
Such was the case for Sgt. Leonard Matlovich and Army Sgt. Miriam Ben-Shalom. Matlovich was a veteran for 12 years with several awards, yet the minute he came out as gay in a letter to the Air Force Secretary, the government found this as a way to deem him unfit and immediately discharged him. While he eventually earned compensation and an honorable discharge, he stated on his tombstone “When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men, and a discharge for loving one.”
In the case of Miriam, she was also discharged from the military for coming out as a lesbian. She was rightfully upset by this and sued to be reenlisted. However, the military made it difficult to reenlist her, refusing to comply with court orders. Only in 1988 did they reenlist her before dropping her again a year later. She took this opportunity to not reenlist again, but become one of the founding members of the “Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Veterans of America Inc.” in 1990, now called the “American Veterans for Equal Rights Inc”.
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