Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, a day when we honor those that have served in the Armed Forces throughout history, which does, indeed, include many LGBTQ+ Americans—despite the fact that our government spent a number of years trying to keep that a secret.
Yes, our community has a long and complicated relationship with the military. For most of history, gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals were excluded from serving all-together.
Of course, that changed when, in 1993, then-President Bill Clinton signed what’s commonly known as the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy into law, allowing these individuals to serve—you know, so long as they didn’t talk about!
But just because Obama repealed DADT in 2010—formally ending restrictions on restrictions gay, lesbian, and bisexual personnel in the military—homophobia in the Armed Forces didn’t just disappear. The fight against still continues today.
Serving In Secret: Love, Country, And Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is the latest documentary in MSNBC’s “Turning Point” series, which traces the history of LGBTQ+ military service and the discrimination that’s plagued it since the beginning.
The film assembles leading voices in politics, historians, civil rights activists, and retired military personnel to tell its story, including quite a few recognizable names and faces like Rachel Maddow, Nancy Pelosi, and Pete Buttigieg, who previously joined the U.S. Navy Reserve and even took a leave from his South Bend, Indiana mayoral term to deploy to Afghanistan in 2014.
But at the heart of Serving In Secret is the story of gay couple Tom Carpenter and Courtland “Court’ Hirschi, who bravely share their personal experiences with the military over the years.
Following his family’s military lineage, Tom joined the Naval Academy and, after graduating in 1970, planned to serve as an attack pilot for the U.S. Marine Corps. But then he met and fell deeply in love with Court, immediately realizing he’d have to keep this veyr important part of his life a secret.
Tom knew that, if discovered, it could result in being kicked out of the military with a dishonorable discharge, a court martial, even jail time—or worse. But the couple’s situation was far from an exception. And so, when DADT was signed into law, Tom dedicated himself to fighting for its repeal.
Tom, Court, and so many more share their stories in Serving In Secret: Love, Country, And Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which premieres this Veteran’s Day weekend on MSNBC on Sunday, November 12, and then begins streaming exclusive on Peacock on November 13.
You can watch a brief trailer for Serving In Secret below:
Related:
Gays in fatigues: 10 LGBTQ+ military films worth watching
‘The Inspection,’ ‘Tom of Finland,’ and more movies to watch that spotlight queer people serving in the military.
ingyaom
Thank you, gay vets!
GayEGO
I am a gay Navy Veteran, was with my husband 57 years, married 15 years. When I was in the Navy I called him my roommate. We had a lawyer who told one of our tenants complaining about us – Were you there when the lights went out? I thought it was a perfect response!
winemaker
You could have said ‘have you ever been in bed with me, then how do you know where I sleep? This was the response from Sally Stanford, who ran a notorious high class brothel in San Francisco from 1939 – 1950 to the Sausalito city council when she wanted to go legit and expand her restaurant on Bridgeway. Sally Stanford became the mayor of Sausalito California in 1975 after closing her brothel, going legitimate and opening a restaurant in Sausalito, the Valhalla beginning in the early 1950’s through the early 1970’s. When she wanted to expand the restaurant the Sausalito city council obstructed her every inch of the way knowing her background thinking she wanted to turn Sausalito into a huge whorehouse. When she appeared before the city council to question why she was denied the permit to expand the restaurant, they denied her petition aledging non residence in Sausalito ( a requirement to opening and running a business ), having an apartment in San Francisco and a ranch in Sonoma but no record of living in Sausalito. They asked her response and she gave it to them this way ” Mr comissioner, have you ever been in bed with me, then how do you know where I sleep? She was ruled ‘out of order’ and when she asked what she needed to do to get her permit to expand the valhalla, their response, If you don’t like the rules, run for office. Long story short, she ran for mayor and was elected by a landslide vote and from the reports she was good for Sausalito, got things done.
ffmikey
I served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1969. The myth that one had to be closeted is ridicules. From Basic Training to where I was stationed there were openly gay members from the lowest private to officers. A Training Officer in my Basic Training Company was involved in a relationship with one of my fellow trainees. There were gay servicemen in my AIT Company one of which also served where we were stationed permanently. The two Battalion Maintenance Clerks were in a open relationship. The Company Clerk , excuse the term, a flaming queen. The re-enlistment NCO, a career serviceman, was obviously gay. And DADT was repealed, ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court after the Gay Republican Log Cabin organization filed the law suit challenging DADT. When Obama signed the legislation after the ruling it only delayed the implementation of officially allowing gay servicemen from serving openly . Many may disagree but I was there, I saw it, I experienced it.
linedrive
First of all, thank you for your service. Second of all, wow, that is an impressive blanket dismissal of the real struggles of other people. Since you never personally witnessed someone being kicked out of the military for being gay, it never happened? Ok. With all respect, sir, it’s no myth.