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First homosexual individual ejected from military
Lieutenant Enslin became the first individual to be thrown out of the military due to being homosexual. General George Washington gave orders to remove Lieutenant Enslin from the military after he was found guilty of sodomy (US Naval Institute, 2017).
https://www.usni.org/news-and-features/dont-ask-dont-tell/timeline -
Miscellaneous Crimes and Offences
Laws prohibited sodomy in the military and if any individuals were convicted of sodomy, they would be punished accordingly as determined by a court-martial. Most of the history of the military civil and military law has forbidden gay men and women from serving. (Witch hunts) The Naval Investigative Service NIS, the Criminal Investigating Department, Airforce OSI actively looked for gay men and women in the military and they would be discharged dishonorably or sometimes with criminal charges. -
17 sailors jailed for homosexuality
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt ordered undercover individuals to "seduce sailors suspected of being homosexual" (US Naval Institute, 2017). A total of seventeen sailors were jailed and court-martialed before the nation demanded the investigations be ceased. -
Draft omits homosexual individuals
The draft had a list of characteristics that would make an individual safe from being drafted (The US Naval Institute, 2017) . The US Selective Service System felt the need to exclude homosexual individuals from the list. -
Uniform Code of Military Conduct
The Code outlawed sodomy among military personnel and defined sodomy as the following:
"any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offence." -
Homosexuality deemed Security threat
President Eisenhower ruled that "sexual perversion" was a security threat, and therefore, anyone that committed such act would not be able to serve in the military or hold a government position. -
Homosexuality no longer security threat
Captain Crittenden orders an investigation from the U.S. Navy Board of Inquiry (The US Naval Institution, 2017). The reports returned no significant evidence indicated homosexuality as a security threat. -
Commanders in charge
Although there were regulations in order for dismissing individuals that were deemed "unfit", which included homosexual individuals, commanders were in charge of enforcing that rule (The US Naval Institution, 2017). They made the ultimate decision of whether or not to terminate individuals suspected of homosexuality. -
1980's
In the mid-1980s there was a backing off on the priority of hunting out GLBTQs and discharging them. It stopped being a thing the investigative branches had little to no interest in. -
DADT
1993 - DADT - Don't Ask, Don't Tell was implemented in 1993, but it was merely a half-way step for gay and lesbian men and women to partially allow their service, or rather, not to legalize it, but to decriminalize it--much the way states are currently treating marijuana offenses. If no one catches you, no problem. But not getting caught is your best bet. -
Palm Center founded
The Palm Center is responsible for studies in regarding LBGTQ in the military (Frank, 2013). This center provided evidence supporting LBGTQ. These studies suggested that other countries that allowed these individuals in their military suffered no harm. The Palm Center focused on disproving assumptions that LBGTQ in the military cases harm and supporting the idea that it's actually the discrimination and exclusion of these individuals causing harm to the military
http://archive.palmcenter.org/ -
Williams Institute begins investigations
Studies aimed to dismiss the belief that heterosexual individuals would leave the military if homosexuals were allowed to enlist (Frank, 2013). -
Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Much credit was given to Obama's Admin. for repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, there were many other advocates that "pressured" the White House into signing the bill (Frank, 2013).
“... allowing homosexuals to serve openly would be the right thing to do. ... we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens... it comes down to integrity—theirs as individuals, and ours as an institution.” (Clapper, 2014, p.201) -
Congress Immediately Suspends of the Ban on GLBTQ in the military
“I was around when “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was enacted. Many people rationalized at the time that this was a practical compromise. But it really wasn’t, since it didn’t relieve the burden of secrecy, or remove the pervasive fear that any day, with no warning, one could be “outed” and one’s career would be over.” (Clapper, 2014) -
Period: to
2011 - current
Researchers followed impact on the services for a year after the repeal of DADT and found that the repeal had no negative impact on the military. Photos of officers being promoted to Flag rank with their same-sex spouses attending by their sides are now common. Same-sex 'first kiss' upon deployment returns are now common at ports of return.
