19 Eric: I’m Eric Marcus from Making Gay History. Over the course of two decades beginning in 1988 I conducted a hundred interviews with trailblazers from the LGBTQ civil rights move- ment. Now, with the Give Voice to History Project, I’m bringing some of those trailblazers into your classrooms to help tell the story of this part of the American Civil Rights Movement. Meet Perry Watkins. In the late 1960s, as social and political upheaval rocked the world, Perry was a 19-year- old African American man living in Germany and studying dance. On the other side of the world, the Vietnam War was at its peak with more than a half-million U.S. troops deployed there. At that time, all young men in the U.S. had to register for military service and were assigned a number. If their num- ber came up, they were drafted, in other words, ordered to report for duty. Young Perry was one of nearly 300,000 young men drafted in 1968. As an out gay man he had every reason to believe that after a quick trip to an Army induction center in the States, he’d be back in Europe and dancing again because gay people weren’t allowed to serve. But that’s not what happened. Eric: Did you know you wanted to work in the military? Perry: I didn’t want to. I did not check the box “yes” because I wanted to go into the military. I laugh when the Army now defends their, you know, “Oh, well, it’s just so terrible…” All they had to do was comply with their regulation, which said they cannot take me if I check that box. Eric: You checked the box. Perry Watkins Transcript Perry: I checked the box “yes” and I was drafted anyway. Eric: You checked the box that said “homosexuality”? Perry: Would you like to see a copy of the form? Eric: I believe you! I believe you! You checked the homosexual box. Perry: Yes. Eric: You were drafted. Perry: Yes. I would be curious to do a statistical report, an investigative type report on the number of people who checked the box “yes,” what their race was, and how many of them that were white were drafted anyway. Eric: What year were you drafted? Perry: 1968. Eric: Vietnam War. Perry: Yeah, good thinkin’. Eric: Were you shocked? Perry: Yes! That’s why I find it abso- lutely ludicrous that the Army is in court saying,“We don’t want this man.” Why the hell did you take me? Fifteen years later, I’m still in court. I lost… This is a rental. I used to own a house not a mile from here. I lost it because when I got thrown out of the Army I didn’t have an income. I don’t have heat in my house now because I don’t make enough money to turn on the heat. But yet I’m dealing with a system of justice who’s looking at the facts in my case and going,“Well, we can’t tell the Army not to comply with their 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75