Officially Gay: The Political Construction of Sexuality by the U.S. Military

In this impassioned treatise, Lehring argues that military policies towards gays and lesbians have played a major role in the creation of what he terms an ""official"" gay identity--namely, ""who and what lesbians and gay men are."" The opportunity to defend one's country is a hallmark of citizenship, explains Lehring; thus, an individual who is deemed unfit for military service based on his sexual orientation is, in many ways, stripped of some of his rights and privileges as an American. Ambitious but accessible, the text begins with a survey of definitions of gay identity, covering what Lehring terms the essentialist/constructivist debate (i.e., those who believe sexuality is innate and irreducible, and those who believe it is a social construct) and the potential for the former to lead to""greater State regulation of sex."" Lehring goes on to examine issues such as gays' place in the""hypermasculine atmosphere"" of the military (where gay men might be perceived to objectify their male comrades) and to debunk arguments that homosexuality is""incompatible"" with military service. He also explores Clinton's wishy-washy""Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue"" policy, and, perhaps most notably, considers how the military's epistemological models of homosexuality have actually shaped the contemporary gay liberation movement. At the heart of Lehring's discourse is the armed forces' contradictory practice of banning homosexuals except during times of war: if gays and lesbians pose such a threat to the military's ability to accomplish its mission, why, he asks, should they be permitted to serve in times of war, when peak performance is even more essential? It's a question that still doesn't have an answer, and Lehring's book is an important examination of a critical issue.