Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military

Randy Shilts

Macmillan, 2005 - History - 810 pages

The definitive book on lesbians and gay men in the US military.

Randy Shilts, author of the classic documentary history of the AIDS epidemic And The Band Played On, was acclaimed for his ability to take epic histories and molding them into gripping, intimate narratives. Conduct Unbecoming, his groundbreaking exploration of lesbians and gays in the military, came out of hundreds of interviews conducted with servicepeople at all levels of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and intense research uncovering thousands of documents resulting in a unique history of gays in the military as well as the persecution of gays in the military. Conduct Unbecoming will leave readers moved and imbued with a better understanding of the pressing situation in our nation's military.

"A sober, thoroughly researched and engrossingly readable history on the subject. [Shilts's] chronicle is excellent military history, closely woven with an enthralling analysis of the changing definitions of sexuality and personal relationships in American society....[A] landmark book....Remarkable."
--New York Times Book Review

"A masterpiece of investigative reporting...Shilts has shown us the honor homosexuals have brought, and continue to bring, to the uniforms they wear and the country they serve." - Boston Globe

"Gays, we are told, would damage morale in the military. Shilts documents the fact that morale has already been eaten away by hypocrisy, contradictions, and favoritism...This book will be to gay and lesbian liberation what Betty Friedan's was to early feminism or Rachel Carson's to ecological consciousness. No fair-minded person can read Conduct Unbecoming and consider the present system defensible. - USA Today

"Gripping reading....the history of homosexual people and the movement for gay/lesbian equality in the United States can nowhere be more clearly told." - Los Angeles Times

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - LeslieHurd - LibraryThing

CONDUCT UNBECOMING: GAYS AND LESBIANS IN THE U.S. MILITARY by Randy Shilts - Finished 3-8-13 ????? - ? Shilts' book "And the Band Played On" was unquestionably my favorite book of 2012. I fully expect ...

User Review -

Used this book for my AP U.S. History Paper, 11 out of 10, would recommend

Contents

• Manhood: 28
• Rules: 37
• The Spy: 47
• A Name on the Wall: 55
• Days of Future Passed: 72
• Home Front: 79
• The Sanction of the Victim: 87
• INTERROGATIONS 19691975: 99
• Endings: 113
• Interrogations: 124
• Indoctrination: 132
• Dykes and Whores: 139
• In Country: 148
• Back to the World: 157
• Winners: 166
• STRAC: 176
• Politics and Prejudice Part I: 184
• The Letter: 196
• TRIALS 19751976: 205
• The Color Purple Part 1: 207
• The Green Beret: 218
• Freedom: 226
• The MileWide Word: 234
• Triangulates: 245
• Adjectives and Nouns: 254
• The Next Generation: 266
• Transitions: 272
• The Secret Report: 279
• THE FAMILY 19771980: 289
• The Family: 291
• Reaction: 298
• The Gayest Ship in the Navy and Other Stories: 307
• Women at Sea: 315
• Angry Gods: 323
• Memorial Day: 332
• Glory Days: 341
• Until After November: 352
• Interregnum: 359
• Future Imperfect: 365
• LESBIAN VAMPIRES OF BAVARIA 19811985: 373
• Thoughtcrimes: 375
• Surrender Dorothy: 383
• Railroading: 393
• Doreen: 400
• Lesbian Vampires of Bavaria: 411
• Straights: 422
• In the Midnight Sky: 429
• Heroes: 438
• Exiles: 448
• Blanket Parties: 459
• so Costs: 468
• SI HTLVIII: 477
• Dykebusters: 489
• Friends of Helga: 499
• Where It All Begins: 510
• HOMOVAC 19861990: 515
• ss Tom Dooleys Undesirable Discharge SI7 56 The Unquiet Death of Michael W Foster: 524
• sz Countertrends: 531
• The Color Purple Part 2: 543
• At the Buccaneer Motel: 556
• Prisoner Number 73343: 565
• Foreign Affairs: 577
• The Escape: 585
• Naming Names: 593
• The Soesterberg Affair: 603
• Funerals: 614
• Malleus Maleficarum: 625
• The Release of Prisoner Number 17: 639
• Embarrassments in the Making: 647
• Explosions: 656
• Mockingbirds: 665
• Official Government Sources: 674
• Hearings: 686
• Holding Actions: 697
• Vindication: 706
• The Fag Killer: 716
• Convenience of the Government Part 2: 723
• PROMISES TO KEEP: 733
• Politics and Prejudice Part 2: 735
• Tom Dooleys Honorable Discharge: 751
• Notes on Sources: 755
• Selected Bibliography: 785
• Index: 789

About the author

RANDY SHILTS, one of the first journalists to recognize the national importance of the AIDS crisis, was a national correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle for thirteen years. He is the author of The Mayor of Castro Street and And the Band Played On. He died in 1994.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the U.S. Military
• Author: Randy Shilts
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Macmillan, 2005
• ISBN: 0312342640, 9780312342647
• Length: 810 pages
• Subjects: History / Military / General; History / Military / United States; History / Modern / 20th Century; Social Science / LGBT Studies / Gay Studies; Social Science / LGBT Studies / Lesbian Studies