Ask & Tell: Gay and Lesbian Veterans Speak Out

by Steve Estes

Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was the directive of President Clinton's 1993 military policy regarding gay and lesbian soldiers. This official silence continued a collective amnesia about the patriotic service and courageous sacrifices of homosexual troops. Ask and Tell recovers these lost voices, offering a rich chronicle of the history of gay and lesbian service in the U.S. military from World War II to the Iraq War.

Drawing on more than 50 interviews with gay and lesbian veterans, Steve Estes charts the evolution of policy toward homosexuals in the military over the past 65 years, uncovering the ways that silence about sexuality and military service has affected the identities of gay veterans. These veteran voices--harrowing, heroic, and on the record--reveal the extraordinary stories of ordinary Americans, men and women who simply did their duty and served their country in the face of homophobia, prejudice, and enemy fire. Far from undermining national security, unit cohesion, or troop morale, Estes demonstrates, these veterans strengthened the U.S. military in times of war and peace. He also examines challenges to the ban on homosexual service, placing them in the context of the wider movement for gay rights and gay liberation. Ask and Tell is an important compilation of unheard voices, offering Americans a new understanding of the value of all the men and women who serve and protect them.

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The official silence mandated by the 1993 "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy continued a collective amnesia about the patriotic service and courageous sacrifices of homosexual troops. Ask and Tell recovers these lost voices, offering a rich chronicle of the history of gay and lesbian service in the U.S. military from World War II to the Iraq War.
Drawing on more than 50 interviews with gay and lesbian veterans, Steve Estes charts the evolution of policy toward homosexuals in the military over the past 65 years, uncovering the ways that silence about sexuality and military service has affected the identities of gay veterans. These veteran voices--harrowing, heroic, and on the record--reveal the extraordinary stories of ordinary Americans, men and women who simply did their duty and served their country in the face of homophobia, prejudice, and enemy fire.
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Genres: History, Nonfiction, Lesbian, Gay, Military Fiction, LGBT

280 pages, Hardcover

First published May 14, 2007

Reviews

[Carol Storm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some truly inspiring stories, but the author does a terrible job of arranging the material and the pace of each chapter is awkward. Events happen out of sequence and Steve Estes the interviewer keeps intruding. Read BLOODS by Wallace Terry and you'll see how a good oral history is structured!

[Rebecca Crunden]

⤑ research tag: in an effort to organise my shelves, I'm going to be labelling the books I'm using for study purposes as I tend to dip in and out of these.

[Noel Roach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not know much about military service so the personal stories from World War II through Iraq and Afghanistan were very interesting. Unfortunately the accounts focused heavily on the military service aspects and hardly at all on their lives as lesbians and gay men. This book took me from knowing nothing to knowing a bare minimum and having a lot of questions.

[Robert Devine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable oral histories of gay and lesbian veterans; most accounts focused on each veteran's military service, which reinforced the notion that sexual orientation is not detrimental to service, but book didn't provide extensive insight into gay/lesbian experience

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and insightful.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful yet sad book filled with different testimonies and stories.