70 Years of "Progress"

I came across two interesting posts about gays in the military today. First, at The Dish, Andrew Sullivan quoted an amazing love letter written by one soldier to another celebrating the anniversary of their meeting in 1943 during World War II:

Two lieutenants who were smart enough to know the score, but not smart enough to realize that we wanted to be alone. A screwball piano player — competition — miserable days and lonely nights. The cold, windy night we crawled through the window of a GI theatre and fell asleep on a cot backstage, locked in each other’s arms — the shock when we awoke and realized that miraculously we hadn't been discovered. A fast drive to a cliff above the sea — pictures taken, and a stop amid the purple grapes and cool leaves of a vineyard.

Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing on the wonderful blog Letters of Note.

Just a few minutes later, I was reading Dan Savage on Slog and saw that he had posted a video by boyfriends who are both Marines in which they talk about how they met, their families, etc. It's very sweet, but too long (over 16 minutes). You can go watch the whole thing, or just watch this equally sweet but much shorter video by the same couple:


Sullivan and Savage have almost exactly the same reaction.

Andrew: "There are times when I cannot truly comprehend the change my generation has lived through."

Dan: "Everyone once in a while you have to pause to marvel at the progress we've made in the last few years."

As a gay man of the same generation as Sullivan and Savage, I'm also amazed by how far we have come in our lifetimes and very proud of what we have achieved. Still, part of me does have to admit that the closet produced much better art. Just read that letter again. It is beautiful--really a prose poem about the joy of love even if secret and the misery of separation. Seventy years later, two out proud young men, bless their hearts, can't even make a decent "Let's Have A Kiki" video. Oh god, I'm going straight to gay hell for even thinking such things much less blogging them.