The first museum exhibit in the country to focus on the experiences of GLBT Veterans
and the American military policy on homosexuality.
From Think Progress…
“When I was in the military,
they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.” — the tombstone epitaph of decorated Air Force Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, whose “medals, uniform and other personal effects make up the centerpiece of ‘Out Ranks,’ a new exhibit that documents the tortured relationship between gay troops and the U.S. military from World War II to the present.”
Matlovich, who died in 1988, was a decorated Air Force sergeant who came out to his commanding officer a month before the fall of Saigon, hoping to challenge the government’s ban on gay service members. In 1975, the idea of an openly gay combat veteran was incongruous enough to land him on the cover of Time magazine.
The goal of the show, though, is to illustrate that gays are and always have served their country, often with honor and always under the threat of dishonorable discharge. It opened on Flag Day as momentum builds in Congress for repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue” policy adopted under President Bill Clinton.
Exhibit Hours:
Tuesdays-Saturdays 13:00-17:00
GLBT Historical Society
657 Mission Street #300
San Francisco, CA 94105
415.777.5455
Co-Sponsors:
California Stories Fund
Military Equality Alliance
Michael Palm Center
Bob Ross Foundation
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Small Change Foundation
This project is made possible, in part, by a grant from the California Council for the Humanities as part of the Council’s statewide California Stories Initiative. The Council is an independent non-profit organization and a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information on the Council and the California Stories Initiative, visit www.californiastories.org.
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