8 LGBT Service Members Who Shaped American History

From: Gay Pop Buzz

4

Grace Garner

 and 

5

Fannie Mae Clackum

Certainly, not the first to ever be kicked out of the military for being LGBT, Grace Garner and Fannie Mae Clackum, U.S. Air Force reservists during the late 1940s and early 1950s, were the first to successfully challenge their discharge.

When rumors started to circulate the two women were lesbians, the Office of Special Investigations basically entrapped the pair, which in turn gave the Air Force sufficient cause to boot them in 1952 dishonorably.

The duo, however, refused to accept their fate and demanded their case be heard in military court (court martial).

Eight years later, they won their suit. Their previous discharges were vacated. Moreover, they also earned back pay.