American military leaders argue that overt homosexuals among their men would undermine unit solidarity and camaraderie. It is remarkable that many peoples, here and there in world history, have come to exactly the opposite conclusion. I was thinking about this when I went to visit my friend Hank in San Diego after New Year's Day. Hank is into his second tour of duty for the Navy--and Hank is gay. As do many small town North Carolina boys, he joined the Navy to see the world and escape the boonies. He was stationed on O'ahu and like a lot of Navy personnel aroused by Hawai'i's blaring sunsets and thick tropical twilight, he eventually found his way down to Hula's. Hula's is Waikiki's main gay club, built around a magnificent, gigantic banyan tree. The club enjoys an eclectic clientele of hungry tourists, raucous locals, and wayward servicemen. Hank now works at a naval installation in San Diego and he took me on a tour of his favorite dives in the Hillcrest District.
It is no surprise that the once all-male military, like the priesthood, the Boy Scouts, and the college fraternity, continues to attract numbers of men who like to hang out with men. Hank currently lives under that curious regime of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (which, as we learned recently, does not entirely apply to AOL personal profiles). This policy only makes official what has long been standard operating procedure in the military. Hank is killer cute, and both remarkably gentle and vivacious. It occurred to me that only the dullest and most obtuse of his superior officers could remain unaware of his sexual preferences. But, clearly, they pretend not to notice while he pretends he could be straight. In this odd military world of make-believe, he joins thousands of other gay and lesbian service personnel who, if not always comfortable, are proud of and committed to their military careers.
Most of us have come across gay or lesbian soldiers, cadets, or sailors in one place or another. It is obvious that the numerous uniformed homosexuals who have always been in the armed forces are not working everyday havoc upon the military's ethos of brotherhood or corps unity. Indeed, in some cultures, homosexual relations among military men functioned to intensify male camaraderie so that men were even more willing to sacrifice their lives both for their boyfriends and for the greater good.
In particular, age-structured homosexuality in which younger, junior youths took lovers among older, superior men was common in a variety of societies where men had to go to war. Enlisted men here, one could say, really loved their officers. Most of us have read about customary relations between older and younger men among the ancient Greeks. The story of Achilles and his lover Patroclus, killed at the battle of Troy, explored how love between men inspired a militaristic ardor of bravery, ferocity, and sacrifice. Cross-cultural evidence indicates that gay men at war have been as brutal, bloodthirsty, and cruel as anyone else, particularly when their boyfriends are endangered.
Samurai warriors during Japan's Tokugawa era also often took lovers among their pages and military subordinates (see Male Colors, Gary Leupp's 1995 book on Tokugawa homosexuality). These lovers were together both in bed and on the battlefield. Even when the Tokugawa shoguns at last managed to suppress feudal warfare after 1605, and required the majority of the samurai clans to leave their fortresses and castles and move into the cities, men from this class retained their customary homosexuality. Quarrels over boyfriends were a major cause of street crime and unrest in 17th century Japanese towns and cities. Samurai men were allowed to wear two swords--one long and one short--and they knew how to use them.
When Hank and I were in the Hillcrest bars, I observed the crowds drinking, playing pool, and flirting and talking together, trying to guess just who else was in the Navy. Unlike Tokugawa Japan, when these men leave the bars they have to revert to passing as straight--or at least to that curious military world wherein everyone pretends massive ignorance. That evening, I went out to an Italian restaurant with Hank, Hank's wife, Hank's wife's child, and Hank's wife's girlfriend. The military, and Hollywood, are the two institutions in American society that are doing the most to promote homosexual marriage: the defensive although nonetheless often happy unions of thousands of gay men and lesbian women.
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