February 10, 1988 - U.S. Army's Homosexual Ban

U.S. Court of Appeals overturns Army’s ban on homosexuals. The United States Army had a policy of banning gay men from its ranks. The Army took its lead from the British Articles of War of 1775 and felt no need to update it. Many Americans felt the ban was a throwback to the days of paranoia and misinformation about gay men’s abilities. When women were allowed into the combat ranks of the military, many assumed they were lesbians. It was not until February 10, 1988 that a federal appeals court in San Francisco struck down the military’s ban, saying it was unconstitutional. The argument that banning gays preserved morale and discipline did not persuade the court to deny gay men and lesbians the same rights as other Americans. In subsequent years, some courts ruled in favour of gay and lesbian military personnel, while others upheld the government’s stance. Years later, when Bill Clinton became president, he tried to allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Knowing his decision would be overturned in Congress, however, he agreed to the compromise policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in which theoretically, if a gay or lesbian soldier did not reveal their true sexual orientation, then they would be allowed to serve. In practice, the military continued to seek out the sexual orientation of gay men and lesbians and throw them out of service.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.