Coming Out Under Fire

Under the original laws concerning homosexuality in the military during the WWII era, lesbians couldn't be discharged because the primary criteria was "sodomy." So, the military re-classified homosexuality as a psychological aberration, and gays and lesbians were rooted out as "undesirables." Some of the interviewees in filmmaker Arthur Dong's absorbing study of prejudice in the military tell painful stories of witch hunts, relentless interrogations, and confinement in wooden cages, but the film also has plenty of lighter moments (the story of the short but popular run of the mimeographed gay newsletter "The Myrtle Beach Bitch" is a hoot). Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)