Content area
Full Text
And the Flag Was Still There: Straight People, Gay People, and Sexuality in the U.S. Military.
THE MILITARY AND SEXUALITY
Dr. Lois Shawver has done a super job of bringing most, if not all, of the current research about homosexual persons, the United States military establishment, and military service by homosexual individuals together in one book. It is astounding to see how much research has been produced on this topic since 1992 and the fiasco of "Don't Ask/Don't Tell/Don't Pursue" (the current policy of the U.S. military). The actual citations and research tell readers that the very things which Gay veterans have been saying for years are, in fact, valid: That Gays and Lesbians can serve their country very well, indeed. Given the formidable scope of the references, a reader will have to conclude that Gays and Lesbians, in fact, can be integrated into the military and that they can serve without all the silliness and difficulty which some military experts suggest will occur. Dr. Shawver's book will be a good starting point for those just beginning on the educational journey to understand the nuances of this sensitive topic; it is a good basic "101 Introduction to the Issue of Gays In the Military." Given that Dr. Shawver's expertise is in the area of bodily modesty, she certainly has the credentials to strip the xenophobia of American society and military bare for all to see.
For the more knowledgeable person, unfortunately, Dr. Shawver's book contains little that is new. Further, in spite of stellar referencing, a serious flaw of the book is that Dr. Shawver seems to think that the move to include Gays in military service began, somehow, after 1993. She ignores, for example, the 1957 Crittendon report done for the Navy and the 1987-1988 MILPERSEN and PERSEREC reports, all of which support the idea that homosexual individuals could serve with heterosexual individuals with little disturbance and certainly with no detriment to morale or the good order of the service. She...