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

Written by Randy Shilts

Narrated by Daniel Henning

"A thoroughly researched and engrossingly readable history" of gay men and women in the American armed forces by the author of And the Band Played On-The New York Times Book Review.

Published during the same year the American military instituted Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and eighteen years before President Barack Obama repealed it, Conduct Unbecoming is a landmark work of social justice and a searing indictment of the military establishment's historic bigotry toward its gay servicemen and women. Randy Shilts's eye-opening book describes the bravery, both exceptional and everyday, not only of gay soldiers throughout history, but also of gay men and women serving in our modern military. With each anecdote and investigation, Shilts systematically dismantles the arguments against allowing gays to serve in the military.

At once a history of the American military and an account of the gay rights movement, Conduct Unbecoming is a remarkable testament to the progress achieved for gays in the military-and a revealing look at how far we have yet to go.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705270387

Randy Shilts

Randy Shilts was born in 1951, in Davenport, Iowa. One of the first openly gay journalists hired at a major newspaper, he worked for the San Francisco Chronicle for thirteen years. He died of AIDS in 1994 at his home in the Sonoma County redwoods in California. He was the author of The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk (1982), And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic (1987), and Conduct Unbecoming: Lesbians and Gays in the U.S. Military (1993). He also wrote extensively for many major newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Newsweek, Esquire, The Los Angeles Times, and The Advocate. And the Band Played On was made into a docudrama that was broadcast on HBO in 1993.