Most found new communities of people and thrived despite the oppression. Discover the film Coming Out Under Fire that shares their story. Liebman and more than 9, American servicemembers, however, eventually were given a Section 8 "blue discharge" for being homosexual. The documentary Coming Out Under Fire gives voice to the experiences of thousands of gay and lesbian servicemembers who joined the military during World War II, a story that is largely ignored by historians and museums across the country.
However, it is important to place the film into its historical context. The intense nationwide debate resulted in congressional hearings where each member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff voiced supportive opinions of the policy and a reassertion of the policy by President Bill Clinton.
This film can and should be seen as not only a social commentary against the policy, but also an expression of the human cost behind such discrimination. The film takes us back to World War II for a detailed look at the origins of the policy. We hear from nine veterans who, like all Americans, were asked to do their part. At the time, homosexuality was classified as a mental illness by the medical community; mental illness was one condition that disqualified young people from service. The US military, hoping to screen out mentally ill individuals, asked every potential servicemember questions on their sexuality.
By the middle of the war, the military sought new ways to target and expel homosexuals. Instead of charging individuals with sodomy, a court-martialed offense, the military began identifying suspected homosexuals as psychopaths.
In other words, instead of charging servicemembers with a crime of behavior or action, the military charged them with a crime of being. Such a move created an efficient system of discrimination and prosecution of homosexual members of the military. Servicemembers who were persecuted by a Section 8 blue discharge were purged from bases and units and sent to mental institutions and make-shift quarantined brigs where they suffered from isolation, depression, and humiliation, and were stripped of their rights and dignity.
