Lesbian women and gay men served in the armed forces during world war 2 and other major conflicts.12/23/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() In World War II, Canadian women served an increasingly crucial role, often in sex-segregated environments, as medics, mechanics and support staff. “Many found new opportunities for sexual self-discovery.” “For many queer servicemen, the transfer overseas represented a break with heterocentric Canadian social structures,” he wrote in One of the Boys, a book that chronicles the wartime experiences of Canadian gay men. Montreal writer Paul Jackson has found that the war not only showed soldiers a world they had never seen before, it also revealed a way of life that was equally foreign. “For many gay Americans, World War II created something of a nationwide coming out experience,” D’Emilio wrote.Ĭanadian gays might not have contributed as dramatically to the growth of their cities when they returned home after serving overseas, but several years of war nevertheless helped thousands of young men and women explore their sexuality. D’Emilio argues that gays returned to these cities in droves during peacetime because, as queer people, they no longer felt comfortable in their hometowns. The book traces the origins of gay villages in the United States to the port cities where soldiers and sailors spent much of the war. ![]()
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