Highlights from the Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection

LGBTQ Communities and the Military

Monterey County has a long relationship with the U.S. military that has shaped the contours of the local community for generations. It is (and was) home to several military institutions including the Naval Postgraduate School, the Defense Language Institute, and the former Fort Ord (now the home of CSU Monterey Bay). And while the military history of the area may be more familiar, the relationship of that history to the LGBTQ community is less visible. The LGBTQ History of Monterey County collection provides resources to help to break that silence.

A good example is local response to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), a policy which banned gays and lesbians from serving in the armed forces unless they did not reveal or act upon their orientation. In years prior to this policy change during the Clinton administration, local activists publicized the harassment of gays and lesbians in the military who “served in silence,” fearful of their discharge. Demeter, a feminist publication available in the collection, documented how gays and lesbians at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, noting that in 1982, of the 600 Air Force service members discharged, 28 were dishonorably discharged for homosexuality. The article details the process of how service members accused of homosexuality were brought before a supervisor, required to produce a written statement, and removed from certain duties pending an investigation.[1]

In June 1997, organizers in Monterey County offered a counter-narrative, embracing the theme of “Do Ask, Do Tell!” for its Pride parade and celebration. About 200 marchers made their way down Lighthouse Avenue in New Monterey with 1,000 attending a subsequent festival, an event including vendors and speakers.[2]

DADT drew a later response from the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church which traveled to Monterey County in June of 2008 “to protest the evil U.S. military at the Presidio of Monterey”, declaring that “God hates the present-day, sodomite-controlled United States military establishment” The group was met with a peaceful counter-protest by local college students who wanted to “raise a countering voice to the messages of hate”, stating that “Our message is basically the opposite of theirs. God doesn't hate our military and God doesn't hate us.” [3].

Oral histories in the Monterey County LGBTQ History collection are another source which shed light on the interaction between the military and the LGBTQ community. For example, in an interview in 2019, Captain Avner Even-Zohar gives some insight into his experience as a gay man in the Israeli military and his life afterwards in Monterey County. As he recalled, “I knew all my life I would be joining the military. I had some concerns because I think I wasn’t out to people but maybe deep inside me I was out to myself so I didn’t know how I would cope as a gay man in the military.” [4]

Captain Avner Even-Zohar served in the Israeli army for 6 years and was honorably discharged just before LGBTQ protection policies were implemented in the Israeli army in 1993. Captain Avner attended school in the U.S. and began working for the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. When he came to Monterey, he became an advocate traveling the world and sharing his story as a gay man. Perhaps one of the most touching parts of Captain Avner’s testimonial was his advice to his younger self. “It’s important to know that the world has you in mind, the world works in your favor and hold onto yourself, to your principles because one day it’s going to get better, it’s going to get much better… So if you can’t change it then embrace it and accept it...So that is my hope that I and humanity as a whole will find a way to really embrace the world and change the things that we can change to make the world a better place.” [5]

Image source: “Gays at DLI Harassed,” Demeter Volume 5, Number 9, January 1983. Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection. California State University, Monterey Bay Archives and Special Collections, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/demeter/36/.

References

[1] “Gays at DLI Harassed,” Demeter Volume 5, Number 9, January 1983. Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection. California State University, Monterey Bay Archives and Special Collections, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/demeter/36/.

[2] Marsh Slaav, “Time to Design Pride, ‘Do Ask, Do Tell’ is ‘97 Pride Fest Theme.” The Paper, Vol. 3, Issue 3 (January/February 1997).Monterey County LGBTQ History Collection. California State University, Monterey Bay Archives and Special Collections, https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/thepaper/14/.

[3] Julia Reynolds, “Group Comes Bearing Message of Hate.”The Monterey County Herald (CA), June 16, 2008

[4] Avner Even-Zohar interview by Gonza Cabrera, March 30, 2019 for the Monterey County LGBTQ History Project

[5} Even-Zohar interview