But that’s not what happened.ĭuring the fifteen years Perry served in the Army he became an unlikely warrior in a battle against the military’s anti-gay policies. But as an out gay man he had every reason to believe that after a quick trip to the Army’s induction center in Tacoma, Washington, he’d be back in Europe and dancing again. Young Perry was one of nearly 300,000 people drafted that year. The war in Vietnam was at its peak with more than a half-million U.S. Perry Watkins was a nineteen-year-old American college student living in Germany and studying dance when his draft number was called. I’m Eric Marcus and this is Making Gay History! military’s former “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” anti-gay policy in Nathaniel Frank’s 2009 book Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America. military, we recommend Randy Shilts’ 1993 book Conduct Unbecoming: Gays & Lesbians in the U.S. military as reported in the New York Times.įor a thorough history of gay and lesbian people in the U.S. In July 2017, President Trump announced a ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. Senate confirmation of the first openly gay Army secretary, Eric Fanning. The Washington Blade wrote in 2016 about the U.S.
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OutServe-SLDN is a non-partisan, non-profit, legal services, watchdog and policy organization that provides free and direct legal assistance to service members and veterans affected by the repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, the current ban on open authentic transgender service and those currently serving who may experience harassment or discrimination. military have had an organization to turn to for support since 1993 called OutServe-SLDN. His New York Times obituary can be found here. Perry Watkins died of complications from AIDS on March 17, 1996. Lane’s 1994 article, Black Bodies/Gay Bodies: The Politics of Race in the Gay/Military Battle, which was published in Callaloo, a journal of African diaspora arts and letters. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.Ī 1994 documentary, “ Sis: The Perry Watkins Story, ” summarizes Perry’s life and struggles with the U.S. Credit: ©Lina Pallotta, Impact Visuals Photograph Collection, Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J.
military, at a 1993 rally in Washington, DC. Perry Watkins (left) and Miriam Ben-Shalom, who were both involved in lengthy court battles challenging the ban on gay people serving in the U.S. The New York Times published an article in 1991 detailing Perry Watkins’ settlement with the U.S. United States Army is a breathtaking must-read. The 1983 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Watkins v. Also below, you’ll find a complete transcript of the episode. There’s more to learn about Perry Watkins and his landmark legal case than you hear in his Making Gay History interview, so please have a look at the resources and links that follow below. Supreme Court and after an eight-year battle won reinstatement-one of the first to do so. With the help of the ACLU, he fought his case all the way to the U.S. Perry didn’t just walk away with his tail between his legs. Then after fifteen years of exemplary service, they threw him out. Born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1948 and drafted in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War, openly gay nineteen-year-old Perry had every reason to believe he’d never serve-not because he objected to serving his country, but because the U.S. The story of Perry Watkins and his experience with the U.S. Episode NotesĪ lot of stories that are called Kafkaesque aren’t really. Credit: ©Steve Stewart for Positive Image: A Portrait of Gay America, published by William Morrow & Company,1985. Perry Watkins near his home in Tacoma, Washington, 1983.