Word: antigay
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...faces of the participants have changed since the arguments over gay participation in ROTC at Harvard started in the late 1980s, but the essential elements of the conflict have not: balancing a stance against antigay discrimination with the rights and needs of student cadets...
...entire debate like a national emergency. Amid discussions with Aspin, they met three times on July 2, more than anyone remembers their convening in one day during the entire Vietnam War. One chief referred to homosexuals as "fags," and the Marine Corps Commandant, General Carl Mundy, passed out antigay video tapes at meetings. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Colin Powell, while talking cooperation with the White House, instigated behind-the-scenes opposition to the President. In a speech in Annapolis, he had told sailors he would understand if they chose to resign in the event that they ultimately disagreed...
...first big efforts was the "blue-square" campaign the following year. While the right-wing groups said their blue squares were meant to advocate "family values," they were widely interpreted as a strong antigay statement. Homosexuals in Nazi Germany were forced to wear pink triangles as identifying badges and the symbol has since been reclaimed by gay rights activists...
...practice was especially evident from the late '70s through the '80s, when the draft was replaced by volunteerism. On the eve of the Reagan Administration, Deputy Secretary of Defense Graham Claytor Jr., once law clerk of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, laid the groundwork for the Pentagon's current antigay policy. The essence contained in a Joint Chiefs of Staff statement was that "homosexuality is incompatible with military service...
More typically, matters are not confronted directly. Antigay servicemen single out targets, spreading rumors behind their back, carving butt pirate and die faggot on their lockers and spraying their beds with sexual lubricant. To avoid becoming a target, gay men sometimes play along, trying to mask their pain. They smirk gamely at gay jokes and go to lengths to cloak their true identity. Some invent girlfriends or wives, or even date women. Blatant lies about sexual orientation, however, risk perjury charges if a homosexual comes under investigation. Most, therefore, simply disclose nothing about their personal life. "The result...