Foreword: Gays in the Military
Sexual Orientation and Service in the Armed Forces
From time to time over the course of the Nation’s history, the U.S. Government has made decisions about who can and cannot serve in the U.S. military and under what circumstances. Such decisions frequently have reflected society’s attitudes toward stigmatized minorities. Although by the end of World War II more than one million African Americans were serving in the U.S. armed forces, racial segregation remained official government policy until 1948, when President Harry Truman issued an executive order declaring that “there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color,…
