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Gay Rights, Military Wrongs: Political Perspectives on Lesbians and Gays in the Military (Garland Reference Library of Social Science)

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"Gay Rights, Military Wrongs: Political Perspectives on Lesbians and Gays in the Military" is edited by Craig Rimmerman and features a preface by Margarethe Cammermeyer. This is a collection of articles that explore various facets of the issue of gay people serving in the armed forces. The titles of the ten articles give a good sense of the book's contents: "Race-ing and Gendering the Military Closet," by Francine D'Amico; "Echoes of Prejudice: The Debates Over Race and Sexuality in the Armed Forces," by David Ari Bianco; "Military Women: Casualties of the Armed Forces' War on Lesbians and Gay Men," by Michelle M. Benecke and Kirstin S. Dodge; "Promise Unfulfilled: Clinton's Failure to Overturn the Military Ban on Lesbians and Gays," by Craig A. Rimmerman; "President Clinton, Public Opinion, and Gays in the Military," by Clyde Wilcox and Robin M. Wolpert; "The Perils of Congressional Politics," by David M. Rayside; "Seeking Another Forum: The Courts and Lesbian and Gay Rights," by Richard Pacelle; "The Spectacle of Life and Death: Feminist and Lesbian/Gay Politics in the Military," by Mary Fainsod Katzenstein; "Conduct Unbecoming Continues: The First Year Under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue,'" by C. Dixon Osburn and Michelle M. Benecke; and finally "Constructing the 'Other' Soldier: Gay Identity's Military Threat," by Gary L. Lehring.

This collection, which has a publication date of 1996, is full of noteworthy material. In her article, D'Amico looks at foreign militaries that have dropped the gay ban. Benecke and Dodge discuss some specific cases where "witch-hunt" tactics were used against suspected military lesbians. Also interesting is Pacelle's article, which looks at the role of the ACLU in gay rights cases and considers the significance of sodomy laws. Katzenstein considers the role of such individuals as Joseph Steffan and Margarethe Cammermeyer, both of whom challenged the ban on gay people in the military, as public figures. Lehring draws attention to such controversial suppressed studies as the 1957 Crittenden Report. But by far I found the most fascinating and powerful article to be David Ari Bianco's contribution. Using extensive, well-documented quotes, he explores the parallels between arguments used to justify the military's homosexual ban and past arguments used to justify racial segregation in the military. This article offers a particularly shocking look at old racist attitudes. Overall, I found the book to be interesting and still very relevant. The endnotes and bibliography offer interested readers further lines of investigation.