Among this migration came hundreds of thousands of homosexuals seeking to escape rural society.
In DC, male homosexuality was publicly criminalized through campaigns like the “War on Sex Criminals” initiated under J. Edgar Hoover (1924-1972) at the FBI. The district was still under total control of the federal government at that time. The movement to dismiss both communists and homosexuals from the federal government began in the Department of State in 1947. More than five thousand homosexuals were expelled from the Army. But hundreds of thousands were not discovered. During the war, homosexuality was quite open. In fact, the war brought out tens of thousands of them from the closet. Far from their families, neighbors, and churches, they found that what they felt was something shared. Once the war was over, these men would not return to their rural towns.
“Ted, it must have been horrible to be in the war, surrounded by young men and at the same time having to hide your homosexuality.”
“Well, it was more complicated. On the one hand, my combat unit was gayer than you can imagine. We had the mission to take care of each other and avoid getting killed. This created emotional bonds. We were brothers, almost lovers. Some expressed it physically, others didn’t. We even had drag shows.”
“Was there a difference between homosexuals and heterosexuals in combat?”