'Diverse Warriors': LGBTQ Experiences of Recruitment, Enlistment, and Service in the Armed Forces (2011-2021)

• In Event: Rhetoric and the Politics of Belonging

Abstract

This paper explores the lived experiences of U.S. LGBTQ identifying military servicemembers and veterans after the abolition of the U.S. government’s Department of Defense policy 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' in September of 2011 and explores the definitive shift towards ‘diverse’ recruitment tactics that usher in a new era globalization in military recruiting tactics that attempt to weaponize an inclusive ideal of diversity for their own respective pro-war military agendas. This research is based on policy analysis and evidence drawn from a series of qualitative interviews with American LGBTQ-identifying uniformed and veteran respondents that was conducted throughout July and August of 2021 as well as a collection of U.S. and foreign military recruitment materials. As a lesbian and U.S. Army war veteran, my guiding goal is to utilize my own positionality to contribute to the ongoing development of new understandings of modern military recruiting strategies, militant gender norms, and individual servicemembers’ conceptualizations of both queer and military identity in relation to their military service. Ultimately, this paper offers a critical examination of the construction, evolution, and reproduction of the ‘warrior’ archetype in modern military forces.

Author

• Gabrielle Beargeon, Emerson College, CT State Community College System