Amongst the queer history books I have on my shelf are: Paul Jackson’s One of the Boys: Homosexuality in the Military During World War II; Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men & Women in World War II by Armistice Day. As well as the novel The Invisible Glass by Loren Wahl – set in the US ‘occupation’ of Italy. Plus a dvd of interviews with some of the men & women in Coming Out Under Fire.
I can’t recall ever seeing a film about any of the wars: Spanish Civil War, Korea, Vietnam or the World Wars – fictional or documentary that alludes to the an lgbt presence. When Jackson was doing his research he was asked, to the effect, why sully the memories of these men/women. Which is a way of erasing that part of our history.
Besides, fairies don’t fight wars only butch real men do that. Some of these attitudes have changed, but slowly & reluctantly. LGBT soldiers, some highly decorated were give dishonourable discharges as a result of their sexuality, even when their sexuality was known when they enlisted. I’m not going to go into the history of this, you can read about it elsewhere by writers more informed.
I suspect that some of this erasure comes from toxic masculinity. The services can’t let down its butch image, even though some of the butchest, bravest of them were in fact also lgbt – that’s not the image fighting forces want to project. Reading the stories of these men & women in the Jackson’s & Berube’s books is a heartbreaking revelation & it is history that deserves to be remembered & honoured when wreathes laid on Remembrance Day, Veterans Day.
Say Again
in the beginning was the word
no one seems to agree
as to what that word was
what language it was in
or if there’s an equivalent in any language
perhaps it was just a sound
not a word but an utterance
a breath
a grunt
in the beginning there was the grunt
no
that doesn’t have the eternal ambiguity
as there was the word
the word was
according to some
good
not that the word itself was the word good
the argument over what that word was
and what its import is
has not been productive or good
we can’t even agree to disagree
so maybe the word was argue
in the beginning was the word
and word was argue
was righteousness
was mine mine mine
was I’m right
and you are eternally damned to be wrong
because if you aren’t with me
you aren’t a true patriot
you aren’t good
no one contests
that there was a word in the beginning
it all started with a word
not a kiss
not a glance
or a pie stolen from a window ledge
in the beginning was the word
bird had been suggested
it’s clear that what that word was isn’t clear
perhaps it wasn’t meant to be clear
only to be heard
in the beginning was the word
and word was heard
while most days
we can’t even hear ourselves talk
let alone think
as we wade through
the slough of disbelief
seeking relief in blame
wanting a word that
absolves solves resurrects
not one that puzzles confuses and eludes
a word that supports our right to be right
that gives power to the powerful
and takes hope from the hopeless
that causes disease
a word we can agree on
in the beginning was the word
a word no one knows
a word no one can repeat today
in any language
until then
we will be seekers
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TOpoet 
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