Newspaper Collage: Report: Gays Make Good Soldiers, I am A Homosexual, The Sergeant v. The Air Force (1975)

A purple background with hand cut newspaper clippings from the Time and the Advocate. The left clipping is in greyscale. Top of the clipping in bold reads, “The Military.” Title reads, “Report: Gays Make Good Soldiers Why Do You Think They Call it Boot ‘Camp’?” Under is grey text in italics, “By Rick Harding.” Article text reads, “Two reports commissioned by the Pentagon said gays are at least qualified as, and perhaps more qualified than, heterosexuals to serve in the military. One of the reports compared the background records of heterosexual service members with records of 166 gays and lesbians who entered the military and were subsequently discharged because of their sexual orientation. The study concluded that gays performed better than heterosexuals in school conduct, thinking skills, and adjustment to military life. Gays, however, were found to have more problems with drug or alcohol abuse. Another report likened the military’s prejudice against gays with Pentagon sentiment against blacks before the military was forced to integrate in 1948. The document recommended that the Pentagon reverse its current personnel policy, which excludes gays from military service. Both reports were prepared by the Defense Personnel Security Research and Education Center, a Monterey, Calif., unit that is staffed by respected researchers. The center was created in 1987 to conduct studies for the Department of Defense on issues affecting classified information in the military. DOCUMENTS WERE WITHHELD Pentagon officials did not officially release either report. Copies of both documents were leaked in October too Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.), an openly gay member of Congress who has been interested in the military’s policy on gays. Although gay activists said they were hopeful about the impact of the reports, Studds said the military is not willing to change its policy against gay enlistment and Congress is not currently inclined to force a change. Jim Turner, a defense department spokesman, said one of the reports was not released because it did not respond to the original research request, which was to find out whether there is a connection between the security of confidential information and the sexual orientation of its handlers. Turner declined comment on the other report, saying it was in draft form and has not been fully reviewed. He said a new report on the effect of sexual orientation on national security will be completed later this year.” Black bold text at bottom reads, “14 ADVOCATE.” The photograph depicts a white older man, Rep. Gerry Studds. It is a headshot with his eyes and head facing to the left of the camera. He has short balding hair and his mouth is open showing his teeth. He is wearing a white collared shirt with a black and white striped tie. The image on the right is a colored Time Magazine cover. A red border surrounds the image of a man. The black text on the top reads, “75 cents September 8, 1975.” The word “Time” is in the same bright red. Black text overlaying the photo reads, “‘I Am a Homosexual’ The Gay Drive for Acceptance.” The image is a man looking straight at the camera with an open mouth and glazed eyes. He is wearing a US air force uniform and blue cap. His name tag reads, “Matlovich.” He has colorful pins and one blue patch with a white star and white stripes placed on his arm. The bottom article in black and white reads, “The Sergeant v. The Air Force. When T/Sgt. Leonard Matlovich handed his coming-out letter to his superior officer, a black captain at Lang-Let Air Force Base, Va., the officer said: ‘What the hell does this mean?’ Replied Matlovich: ‘It means Brown v. the Board of Education’. Matlovich, now 32, was deliberately provoking a discharge from the Air Force in order to challenge the military’s long-standing ban on homosexuals (TIME, June 9). Indeed, his lawyers hope the case will reach the Supreme Court and produce a landmark decision on homosexual rights comparable to the court’s historic school integration decision of 1954. It is a perfect test case. The tall, red-haired sergeant has an impeccable twelve-year military record, no known psychiatric problems, and a Bronze Star and Purple Heart won on one of his three tours in Viet Nam. A five-man Air Force review board begins hearings Sept 16 at Langley. Matlovich is the son of an Air Force sergeant, and was raised at the airbases in the U.S. and England. Though he says he knew he was homosexual at the age of twelve, he did not act upon that knowledge till he was 30, when he finally got up the nerve to go to a gay bar in Pensacola, Fla. Though Matlovich feared he would be raped by frenzied homosexuals, the bar turned out to be a civilized place filled with airmen, blue-collar workers and middle-class professional men. He lost his virginity that night to a government civil servant. Says Matlovich: ‘I had never held another person in my arms, never kissed another person since I was a child except for family.’ Though only dimly aware of the gay liberation movement, he ran across the name of Gay Activist Frank Kameny in a military magazine’s article on homosexuals. He flew to Washington, met with Kameny and Addlestone, and enthusiastically offered to challenge the military ban on homosexuals. The two men urged him to slow down and think about it. Matlovich did- for nine months- before writing his letter last March. Since then, Matlovich has become one of the best-known gays in the country. (His parents prefer to think he is more interested in homosexuality as a cause than as a way of life.) Addressing a Gay Pride Week rally in New York in June, he broke down and cried. Says he: ‘I found myself, little nobody me, standing up in front of tens of thousands of gay people. And just two years ago I thought I was the only gay in the world. It was a mixture of joy and sadness. It was just a great pride to be an American, to know I'm pressed but able to stand up there and say so. They were very beautiful people to there.’” The far left image for this article depicts two men dancing. The man in the foreground has short hair and a mustache. He is smiling and looking away. His arms and legs are positioned mid dance. He is wearing a long sleeve flannel button up, tan bell bottom pants, a black belt, and black shoes. The man in the background has his back to the camera and facing to the left. He is wearing a short sleeve shirt, tan pants with a studded belt, and black shoes. The second image depicts Matlovich wrapped in bandages and laying in a hospital bed. He is bruised, bleeding, and wounded.

Publication date: 7 November 2022