This gay veteran had a ‘ton of fun’ in the Korean War
A veteran speaks about being a gay solider during the Korean War in the 1950s.
Posted to the “Humans of New York” Facebook page, which documents interesting people and their stories in the city, a gay US veteran spoke about his time serving in the Korean War.
He said: “I had a ton of fun during the Korean War.
“There were 10-15 gay soldiers on the base. As long as we weren’t seen doing anything, they couldn’t discharge us.
“So we all rented a hotel room once a month, plastered the wall with Playbills from A Streetcar Named Desire, and had lots of sex.”
The Korean War was fought between 1950-1953 between North and South Korea, with the United States leading UN troops fighting for South Korea.
It was illegal for soldiers to be openly gay in the military at the time. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was enacted by President Bill Clinton, and allowed gay and lesbian soldiers to serve in secret, as long as they did not tell anyone they were gay.
It was finally repealed by President Barack Obama in 2011.
It is still illegal for trans people to serve openly in the US military.
