READ MORE: The Supreme Court Rulings That Have Shaped Gay Rights in America ‘Scientific’ Attempts to Identify Homosexuals For these veterans, already facing formidable racist barriers to jobs and housing, the stain of a blue discharge further crippled their future prospects for chances for stability. Blue discharges could be dispensed to anyone with “undesirable traits of character,” a term ultimately applied in large numbers to queer people.Īccording to Jones, the NAACP worked with Black service members accused of homosexuality, like Lemuel Brown, to appeal to the Discharge Review Board for a changed status-usually with little success. Both could be issued without a court-martial hearing, and because they were both printed on blue paper, they together became known as “blue discharges.” With WWII’s massive human mobilization, the military shifted from its practice of jailing soldiers accused of homosexuality (which required time-consuming, expensive court-martials) to simply deeming them psychologically unfit. It added a Without Honor discharge in 1893, followed by an Unclassified discharge in 1913.
military began expanding its menu of options. Outright dishonorable discharges were rare, however, because they required a court-martial trial.Īt the end of the 19th century, the U.S. Service members who left the military could receive either an “honorable” or “dishonorable” release.
military relied on a two-pronged discharge system. US Army Signal Corps/PhotoQuest/Getty Imagesįor the first 100 years of its existence, the U.S.