Marching To A Different Drummer: Lesbian And Gay GIs In World War II

Although gays were discriminated against in America during the the early 1900's, WWII served as a turing point for gays as well as other minorities. Since there was a high demand for soldiers and other positions to aid America, the military actually tolerated LGBT people during the war. However, homosexuals serving their country still had to keep their relations private and consensual, because they could still be punished or discharged for being gay. In addition to the soldiers fighting the war oversea, America changed dramatically too. A huge migration occurred that included women moving to find "men jobs" or defense jobs to support the war efforts. Also, African American workers moved to northern cities and to the west coast cities to find new jobs. Furthermore, Mexican workers were moved to California to replace the Japanese workers who were put into interment camps during the war. However, I think WWII led to major changes within the LGBT communities.  

The Women's Army Corps or WAC was created and had about 150,000 women who volunteered. This allowed women to live together in close contact, thus many relationships formed, and many women discovered that they were lesbians. Similar relations formed with men who were actually fighting overseas. Living with all men, fighting for the same goal, and being all alone created a "gay ambiance" as Allan Berube says in his article. It would have been ridiculous for the government to try and weed out gay members since they needed all the help the could get to fight the war. But keep in mind that these men and women could not shout out loud their sexual identity or feelings, they had to keep things private   to some extent.

Unfortunately, this article did not have such a happy ending. Berube continues to explain that at the end of the war things began to go back to normal. For example, since men came first they re-assumed their role as head of the household and got their jobs back. This meant that women had to return to their responsibilities as mothers and wives. And African Americans and other minorities had to return to their battle of segration. These social and gender roles were reinforced by the media, churches, schools, and the government. The witch hunt for homosexuals resumed again... However, WWII laid the foundation for the pro-LGBT movement soon to come such as the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis.