Gay Military Book Review Page

I will resist the temptation to write a copious reply/review to Shilt's literary miasma. Just a few simple points....

• Von Steuben liked boys (maybe!). Decatur wore his comrade's (lovers?) ring! There were alot of drag queens in Saigon!..Bahrain!..Chicopee!!..some Navy ships were floating T-rooms!!....it rains men in Diego Garcia!! so what! This trash proves Gays make good soldiers?? I guess Tailhook proved those guys made good pilots.
• Gay appeals in the court system--military courts or civilian courts, based on the right to privacy--were doomed to failure from the start. Privacy rights have never been extended to illegal activities, and many states have laws making homosexual acts illegal. The cart was before the horse. Judge Gerhard Gesell himself said as much...there are many problems that cannot be solved by litigation. The battle for gay rights belongs in the legislatures!
• The gay community expected to ape the success of the civil rights movement and always been in a huff that many blacks do no sign on to our cause. There are several reasons why this attempted meld has failed. First, the civil rights movement was a multidecade effort to ensure equal rights under American law for blacks. The 'gaylib' movement was born after the Stonewall riots and has always identified itself more with throwing rocks at cops than any real social and political reforms. Second, the gay community jumped on the civil rights movement just as that movement was turning from emphasis upon opportunity, to the weaker moral platform of quotas. The latter have never commanded a majority of either black or white voters.
• it would help if the gay community itself had some credibility on military matters. But it does not. Knee-jerk anti-militarism is rampant in gay circles, even to this day. Many radicals are more interested in using the Gay issue to throw ROTC off campuses than they are in trying to obtain fair treatment for ROTC gay cadets. During the Vietnam War, most gay groups were more relieved at how being gay exempted them from the draft, than they were outraged at how gay soldiers/vets were mistreated by Pentagon brass. This is why I was careful to make clear that being gay was not the basis for my objection to that War. More of my thoughts and agonies over this issue can be found on my personal page.
• it would help even more if prominent Gay leaders were'nt such fucking hypocrites. Harvey Milk--the mere mention of the name sends many Gays swooning with anguish and outrage over his untimely fate-- had been a closet case for most of his life. But one fine day, Harvey 'Bristol Cream' Milk suddenly decided that being out was where its at...not just for himself, but for every other faggot as well. Ol' Harvey spilled the beans that Gerald Ford's ex-Marine bodyguard was gay. So much for dignity and respect for privacy! Shilts waxes long over the 'dilemma' this presented to President Ford. What about the dilemma presented to the bodyguard? Oh...hell, another body for the cause!

On and on the litany goes. What is most annoying about this book is it has largely set the standard for the level of debate about gays in the military--surely a low standard, at that-- and set the stage for subsequent gay/military texts. Readers, therefore, should not be surprised at the content of the book who's review follows; nor at my review of it.

Zeeland, Steve. Barrack Buddies and Soldier lovers.
Dilalogues with Gay Men in the US Military.

Shilts' book, by discussing court cases and service purges against and gays and lesbians, maintains at least a facade of respectability. Zeelands book doesn't even do that. The author himself said it best: "the purpose of this book is not to convince the reader that gays make good soldiers or deserve to be allowed to serve their country..." OoooooooK! Instead, this homoerotic text seems to be the world longest personal ad, with Zeelands picture on the back. He doesn't include his phone number, but you can see more at his website. In the meantime the reader can delight in the most bizarre kiss-and-tell book (the author has fucked half the interviewees and wants to fuck the other half, apparently) ever written. You figure out how the following will improve the acceptance of homosexuality in our society..I can't!

• meet Jeff! Jeff gets off watching Captain Kirk. Sex is sex, says Jeff, whether its with his sister, the dog, or a cow on his farm. Beam down on it Jeff, you're a great example for all of us!
• Meet Randy. Randy says he knows(I can hear the gush right thru the text) George Bush is gay...he can tell by the way he jogs! Isn't it nice that faggots can jump to conclusions based on stereotypes as much as any redneck? No thit, Randy. Randy calls his soldier lover is husband.
• Meet John the Butt-Jammer. Excuuuuuuse me girls, he calls it 'fucking the male pussy." John is a real tough dude who slapped a guy who called him a faggot.
• Meet Ryan, the damn gay Republican. Ryan tried to be straight (all us Republicans try to be straight, you see). I will say this, Ryan knows more about Biblical scripture than every homo from Sweden to Swishville. Of course Zeeland can't stop badgering about liking Ronald Reagan so the chapter kind of ends suddenly.
• meet Chaz, the male cheerleader for the base football team! Hit once by a gay basher, Chaz thinks that gays just might have to arm and protect themselves, 'like Israel.' Imagine that...a gay chapter to the NRA!
• Meet Scott, who is in a love pentagon (no pun intended) with our illustrious author and kyle and....oh, who cares! When Zeeland suggests that he wear a condom during their buttblasting sessions, Scott carps "do you have to be such a realist?" Poor Scott can't remember if the author came in his mouth or not. How cheeky!
• Meet Doc. Doc is the Beavis and Butthead of the cammie claque. If someone gets Doc pissed off he likes to 'burn them or something.' [heh...heh]. Asked how he voted in elections, Doc said 'Democrat or Republican.' Zeeland almost gagged when Doc told him he voted for Bush in '88-- of course, Dukakis was the greek god type Zeeland apparently likes.
• Meet lieutenant matt. He isn't homosexual. He isn't heterosexual. He's just (drum roll)....sexual! For Matt the closet has a revolving door. Jumping his roomate in Philly, next he does the Phrankfurt Phag scene. Then a few months with Cathy as a sojourn into straightness. He hits the cumback trail, however. Matt tells us this while fingering the book of Corinthians and hoping to eventually get a job where 'being a Christian would be an active part.'
• Lieutenant Doug is an intelligent guy who rails about Amerika's nudity hangups, as well as methods of beating the NIS and OIS systems for dismissing gays. It is amusing to see him keep cutting Zeeland off at the knees when the author tries to drag the interview down to his level. If you've ever sat in a coffee shop with a gay guy who can't stop talking about how tight 'that guys jeans are!' while you are trying to read the OpEd page of the Wall Street Journal, you know what I mean.
• Well...I'm sorry that by this time i am so numbed by the authors' pathetic concept of what gay men are all about that I can only cursorily mention Rolando, the medic who doesn't know that fellatio means sucking dick; Ron, busy cruising the Burger king mens room on his wedding day; Chuck, Lonnie, Jason, Russ, and a few other HIV+ guys trying to figure which one of their circle-jerk got the virus first. I am sure lesbians will I have a soft spot in their heart for Kyle, who likes to treat women like trash!

In any case, this book can be divided into two parts. The first and longest part is a diary of Jackson's experiences, her life in the military, her family, her values. Unlike Steve Zeeland's cock-and-bull stories, Jackson focuses on the emotional side of being gay: her soul, her relationships. Not all were consensual either..whether it was outright rapes by a few of her male soldier buddies, or an overly aggressive black woman in the barracks one night. Jackson concentrates on her life as a Soldier who is a Lesbian (rather than a Lesbian Soldier). This is a pleasant change from Randy' Shilts vaporous constitutional tomes or Zeelands testicular automotons with rifles.

When called up for Desert Storm, another one of America's military voyeurisms sans declaration, Jackson decided, simply, that 'if I was gonna fight and possibly die for my country in a war, then I'd sure as hell go as the person I am.' Kind of reminds me of the old sixties protest song...

Now, critics may respond that Jackson's johnny-come-lately activism was timed more to embarass the military at a crucial moment, than ann new assessment of her moral dilemma as a lesbian in the military. Maybe so. Tuff shit! Any military person should know that you strike your enemy at his most vulnerable time. Still, if Jackson thinks/thought the news media were going to stand tall for her cause any further than just a cute story, I certainly hope she has wised up in the interim.

These last few chapters are, however, a big change in style and content. Instead of hearing about Donna Jackson, the person, we hear about Donna Jackson, the latest Gays-in-the-Military posterperson. Its too bad Donna got swept up in the "I came out now everybody else must come out too" syndrome that is so prevalent among the homo-intelligentsia. It is the same mentality that is used to call conservative blacks 'uncle toms' and 'oreos' even to this day.
The war to accept gays into society and into our military, like all wars, must be fought on all fronts and by people comfortable with the combat role they have taken. For some, such as Ms Jackson, that role may be to be 'out' and at the top of a media frenzy. For others, such as Gregg who wrote to her in Stars and Stripes May 8 1991, the battle is fought behind the lines for people's hearts and souls, one by one. If Ms. Jackson can't live with that, she can go fuck herself like she did in her expose On Our Backs.