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A review by justabean_reads
Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War Two by Allan Bérubé
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.5
2015 Review:
It would be interesting to read equivalent books for other countries during the same period, as this only covered the USA, but it did seem to cover it very well. I was impressed at what a wide variety of experiences people had, from being persecuted and kicked out to being more or less out and no one caring, depending on the time, place and individuals involved. I wish there had been more about lesbians, but there were at least somewhat included. I liked how many interviews and letters the author quoted. Hopefully they're all around for other people to use.
Until the last chapter, I didn't realise that this book was twenty five years old, and was probably something of a polemic against oppression in the armed forces. I kept waiting for his history to get up to DADT, but it stopped just shy of that. Well written over all, in any case, though someone should have taken the word "ironically" away from him.
2020 Review:
Just as good on a reread. I'm basically living this title in fandom right now, so wanted to brush up, but was pleased with how much of it I remembered and was using anyway. What I had forgotten about was a lot of the oral histories and personal stories, which I only remembered snatches of. There are so many powerful moments of survival and resistance, as well as in later chapters some horrifying bullshit.
The book is thirty years old now, but still stands up really well in terms of explaining the history of the medicalisation of homosexuality, the evolution of military policy, and where individuals fell in with that. I really like how much attention it pays to the diversity of responses within the queer community, and how much variation there was in how people saw themselves and their sexuality. I really liked how accepting and affirming the author was of genderfluidity and gender play. There's a reasonable amount of discussion of black servicemen, and about the black press' gay rights advocacy.
If there's one thing that dates the book a little bit, it's the language around homosexuality, which is somewhat caught in the late 1980s. Not that offensive language is used, but you can really see reading that back to back with Indecent Advances how the terminology we use for ourselves has shifted as the years go by.
It would be interesting to read equivalent books for other countries during the same period, as this only covered the USA, but it did seem to cover it very well. I was impressed at what a wide variety of experiences people had, from being persecuted and kicked out to being more or less out and no one caring, depending on the time, place and individuals involved. I wish there had been more about lesbians, but there were at least somewhat included. I liked how many interviews and letters the author quoted. Hopefully they're all around for other people to use.
Until the last chapter, I didn't realise that this book was twenty five years old, and was probably something of a polemic against oppression in the armed forces. I kept waiting for his history to get up to DADT, but it stopped just shy of that. Well written over all, in any case, though someone should have taken the word "ironically" away from him.
2020 Review:
Just as good on a reread. I'm basically living this title in fandom right now, so wanted to brush up, but was pleased with how much of it I remembered and was using anyway. What I had forgotten about was a lot of the oral histories and personal stories, which I only remembered snatches of. There are so many powerful moments of survival and resistance, as well as in later chapters some horrifying bullshit.
The book is thirty years old now, but still stands up really well in terms of explaining the history of the medicalisation of homosexuality, the evolution of military policy, and where individuals fell in with that. I really like how much attention it pays to the diversity of responses within the queer community, and how much variation there was in how people saw themselves and their sexuality. I really liked how accepting and affirming the author was of genderfluidity and gender play. There's a reasonable amount of discussion of black servicemen, and about the black press' gay rights advocacy.
If there's one thing that dates the book a little bit, it's the language around homosexuality, which is somewhat caught in the late 1980s. Not that offensive language is used, but you can really see reading that back to back with Indecent Advances how the terminology we use for ourselves has shifted as the years go by.