Today In Black LGBTQ+ History: Perry Watkins

TODAY IN BLACK LGBTQ+ HISTORY, we celebrate American Soldier Perry Watkins who was one of the first servicemembers to challenge the ban against homosexuals in the United States military.

Ola Watkins gave birth to Perry James Watkins on August 20, 1948, in Joplin, Missouri. Perry’s parents divorced when he was only three. When in junior high, his mother remarried a career military man, and they moved to Tacoma, Washington. Throughout high school in Tacoma, Perry took dance classes, even studying at the Tacoma City Ballet. He later earned a BA in business and theater. Watkins’ mother influenced him strongly. First, she accepted her son’s sexual orientation. Her emphasis on honesty played a key role in his embracing that orientation throughout his Army career. Watkins knew growing up that he was gay. If peers asked him, he answered truthfully. He considered the racism directed against him far more prominent than the homophobia. Perry James Henry Watkins was the only openly gay person discharged from the U.S. Army with full honors after serving almost two decades. He had to fight for this distinction, suing the Army after being forced out because of his sexual orientation. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court.