PHOTOS: Gays in the Military Exhibition

From November 2009 to June 2013 documentary photographer Vincent Cianni made a series of road trips across the United States to interview and photograph roughly 100 gay and lesbian U.S. military veterans and active-duty service members. Cianni, whose work explores community, memory, and the human condition, set out to document how the military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian service personnel impacted their professional and personal lives. The culmination of this project, Gays in the Military, which features essays by Alison Nordstrom, Lt. Donald R. Bramer, and Alan M. Steinman was published with Daylight Books this May. The collection of photographs shines light on the cultural, personal, and political consequences of the ban on homosexuality and tell the stories of men and women who served in silence. Gays in the Military has been featured on Katie and ABC News, and has been on display inPhiladelphia, Hillsborough, North Carolina and at the Quinzaine Photographique Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.

Image courtesy of Vincent Cianni