Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military

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Macmillan, 2005 - History - 810 pages
The definitive book on lesbians and gay men in the US military.

Randy Shilts, author of the classic documentary history of the AIDS epidemic And The Band Played On, was acclaimed for his ability to take epic histories and molding them into gripping, intimate narratives. Conduct Unbecoming, his groundbreaking exploration of lesbians and gays in the military, came out of hundreds of interviews conducted with servicepeople at all levels of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and intense research uncovering thousands of documents resulting in a unique history of gays in the military as well as the persecution of gays in the military. Conduct Unbecoming will leave readers moved and imbued with a better understanding of the pressing situation in our nation's military.

"A sober, thoroughly researched and engrossingly readable history on the subject. [Shilts's] chronicle is excellent military history, closely woven with an enthralling analysis of the changing definitions of sexuality and personal relationships in American society....[A] landmark book....Remarkable."
--New York Times Book Review

"A masterpiece of investigative reporting...Shilts has shown us the honor homosexuals have brought, and continue to bring, to the uniforms they wear and the country they serve." - Boston Globe

"Gays, we are told, would damage morale in the military. Shilts documents the fact that morale has already been eaten away by hypocrisy, contradictions, and favoritism...This book will be to gay and lesbian liberation what Betty Friedan's was to early feminism or Rachel Carson's to ecological consciousness. No fair-minded person can read Conduct Unbecoming and consider the present system defensible. - USA Today

"Gripping reading....the history of homosexual people and the movement for gay/lesbian equality in the United States can nowhere be more clearly told." - Los Angeles Times
 

Contents

Manhood
28
Rules
37
The Spy
47
A Name on the Wall
55
Days of Future Passed
72
Home Front
79
The Sanction of the Victim
87
INTERROGATIONS 19691975
99
Doreen
400
Lesbian Vampires of Bavaria
411
Straights
422
In the Midnight Sky
429
Heroes
438
Exiles
448
Blanket Parties
459
So Costs
468

Interrogations
124
Indoctrination
132
Dykes and Whores
139
In Country
148
Back to the World
157
Winners
166
STRAC
176
Politics and Prejudice Part I
184
The Letter
196
TRIALS 19751976
205
The Color Purple Part 1
207
The Green Beret
218
Freedom
226
The MileWide Word
234
Triangulates
245
Adjectives and Nouns
254
The Next Generation
266
Transitions
272
The Secret Report
279
THE FAMILY 19771980
289
The Family
291
Reaction
298
The Gayest Ship in the Navy and Other Stories
307
Women at Sea
315
Angry Gods
323
Memorial Day
332
Glory Days
341
Until After November
352
Interregnum
359
Future Imperfect
365
LESBIAN VAMPIRES OF BAVARIA 19811985
373
Thoughtcrimes
375
Surrender Dorothy
383
Railroading
393
SI HTLVIII
477
Dykebusters
489
Friends of Helga
499
Where It All Begins
510
HOMOVAC 19861990
515
Tom Dooleys Undesirable Discharge
517
The Unquiet Death of Michael W Foster
524
Countertrends
531
The Color Purple Part 2
543
At the Buccaneer Motel
556
Prisoner Number 73343
565
Foreign Affairs
577
The Escape
585
Naming Names
593
The Soesterberg Affair
603
Funerals
614
Malleus Maleficarum
625
The Release of Prisoner Number 17
639
Embarrassments in the Making
647
Explosions
656
Mockingbirds
665
Official Government Sources
674
Hearings
686
Holding Actions
697
Vindication
706
The Fag Killer
716
Convenience of the Government Part 2
723
PROMISES TO KEEP
733
Politics and Prejudice Part 2
735
Tom Dooleys Honorable Discharge
751
Notes on Sources
755
Selected Bibliography
785
Index
789
Copyright

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About the author (2005)

RANDY SHILTS, one of the first journalists to recognize the national importance of the AIDS crisis, was a national correspondent for the "San Francisco Chronicle "for thirteen years. He is the author of "The Mayor of Castro Street "and "And the Band Played On." He died in 1994.

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