If the draft were ever to be reinstated in some form is there anyway the military could still exclude openly gay men, lesbians, or bisexuals? If the DoD tried to keep the policy and conscript people I don’t see how it would work. Saying “I’m gay” would probally me the most popular way of getting a 4-F. How would MEPS be able to tell who really was gay from who just doesn’t want to serve in the military? 
Show draftees gay porn and see if they get hard? Require photograhic evidence that they’ve had sex with other men (or women if they’re drafted too). Go back to having psychiatrists interview draftees? Plus wouldn’t there be a public outcry on both the left and the right about “homosexuals being exempt from the draft”.
There’s two ways we’d see a return to the draft.
The first is that society takes a turn towards the authoritarian and communitarian. If society is changed, then the place of homosexuals in it will be as well. If they’re more accepted, then they’d be accepted in the military. If not, then not, and there’d be enough of a stigma (if not outright legal penalties) attached to homosexuality that confessions to get out of service wouldn’t be a significant problem. Not any more than it was in WWII.
The second is that there’s a true national emergency, and the military really needs every bit of manpower it can get, or we’ll really screwed. In this case, to hell with the religious right, we need all the gays (and also women) we can get. Pragmatism trumps bigotry when the life of the nation’s on the line. This may not be a official change of regulations, so much as a silent “don’t ask, and we’ll not consider anything short of anal sex during inspection to be telling” policy.
They asked the same questions during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. If the inductee said he was homosexual, he was taken at his word, and no further investigation was made. Once a draft is on, there is no shortage of qualifiied draft age men.
Yes, but there is one major difference - and I am speaking as one who came very close to being drafted during the Vietnam years. (Never had to go that far as there was a lottery back then using birth-dates, and my number was out of reach for being drafted.)
Back then, to admit you were a homosexual was almost unheard of! There would have been a family scandal, potential loss of a job, and all sorts of repercussions. I doubt anyone used that as an excuse unless they really were Gay. But there are also many books and articles about Gay and Lesbians who gladly went into the armed forces and served their country well - but in total secrecy about their real sexual preferences.
Today, saying you are Gay is pretty much, “who gives a shit?” Only the military still has the “legal right” to fully discriminate, and my guess is, a lot of straight guys will happily join our team (at least on paper) to get out of a draft. Then it is up to the military to decide how they want to handle it…need a picture of me suckin’ a dick? My guess is, even that would be a viable alternative for some straight guys as opposed to being drafted and going to Iraq.
You’re assuming anyone would know. Back then, as today, one’s military service records were private.
No…I am assuming when someone gets drafted, and is not thrilled, they will gladly step up and say, “Hey, you hate fags, and guess what, I am one!” (Whether they are really Gay or not.) I believe that is the crux of the OP’s question regarding accepting Gays into the military if there is a draft.
Of course, if you are drafted, and you are already openly Gay, and you actually want to go into the military, what are they going to do? You are drafting me, so here I am! Deal with it.
Not in every case. From what I’ve read investigation of claimed homosexuality seemed to occur at the local level and not based on any national or systemic basis. I don’t have any statistical data at hand but anecdotally there is the case of Perry Watkins, who declared his homosexuality on his original draft form in 1968 and was inducted into the Army anyway. He re-enlisted several times and, when finally refused re-enlistment under the anti-gay exclusionary policy, sued and won.
Well, plus everyone who knows you’d gone down to be processed for the draft would be curious as to why they’d decided not to take you.
The surprising thing is that about half of all draft-age men during World War II were declared 4-F (unfit for military duty) at some time during their eligibility period. It wasn’t at all uncommon. Most often, the inductee was physically unfit: chronic health problem, bad vision, overweight, underweight, etc.
Just out of interest, why do you capatalise gay and not straight?
Not too mention weren’t local draft boards made up of local notables? Word would get around fast even if records were private. Taking draftees at their word wouldn’t work today. BTW is it true that the Army insisted that draftees were nude when interviewed by psychiatrists? What purpose did that serve (other then them already being nude from the rest of physical)?
Nope. At least not entirely. Discharge papers could be demanded by potential employers. Discharges for homosexuality were printed on blue paper and the general public knew what a “blue discharge” was for. The papers themselves may have ben stamped with a charming phrase like SEXUAL DEVIANT as well, just to be sure no one missed the point.
When I enlisted in the Marines, we were nude for part of the physical, but dressed again during the health history interview, which was done privately.
A person who was never inducted, who never got past the physical, would not have discharge papers.
Not unless there was a closeted gay doctor or other official interested in blackmailing men for sex. This was kept very quiet by officialdom but did occasionally occur.
But he would have an induction notice. Which, while I don’t know for sure, might also be something that a prospective employer could demand.
Or a draft card. Weren’t men required to carry those on their person? If they were classified 4-F would that be listed on the card?
No. Classification was a separate record. As a genealogist, I have requested several old draft registrations and classification records. Even the classification record says nothing beyond “4-F” if the person was unfit for service.
Well, anyway, I only brought up discharge papers in response to the notion that all military records are private, as an example of a military record that isn’t, or at least didn’t used to be.
Nowadays, a lot of jurisdictions forbid discrimination on the basis of veteran status. Whether that includes circumstance of discharge I don’t know; not familiar with any case law on the topic.
Since when? And in what state? As far as I know, sexual orientation does not count as a protected class. While some states have enacted laws protecting gay people from some kinds of discrimination, and society as a whole is less tolerant of such discrimination, there is by no means a blanket protection that only the military can skirt.
According to this site, only sixteen states had such protections for employment discrimination as of a year ago.