Officially Gay

July 1, 2003
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.

June 1, 2003
Though it may seem like yesterday's news, the issue of "gays in the military" continues to be played out. The Pentagon's "stop loss" order after 9/11 means that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of 1993 is in abeyance even though there have been some high-profile dismissals. Both of these books cover much the same ground. Both give excellent introductions to the history of U.S. military policy toward gays, and both provide detailed analyses of the flaws of the policy and are aimed at academic readers. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is the result of a symposium held in December 2000 at the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where Belkin and Bateman are director and assistant director, respectively. The text, which is mostly given to transcripts of sessions from the conference, raises the main issues provoked by the policy, such as a soldier's privacy, group cohesion, and the relevance of foreign experiences. Position papers are followed by discussion. Surprisingly, given the format, the process is quite focused. The editors acknowledge their failure in attracting proponents of the ban, though they tried hard to do so. Officially Gay is less policy oriented. Instead, it places military policy in the broader context of culture, using cultural theory to analyze how the policy contradicts itself. More importantly, it shows how the military has varied its stance according to circumstances and used identity as its organizing principle, neglecting distinctions between sexual actions and sexual identities. In this way, Lehring (government, Smith Coll.) makes concrete the essentialist/constructionist debates, which often get obscured by dense theory. Both books belong in academic libraries where there is interest in military affairs.-David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.