The American photojournalist traveled for two years across the United States in search of gay veterans who had been victims of discrimination. Portraits were shot with a background of secrecy.
Vincent Cianni shows the face of those who must live in hiding, in an organization that is supposed to serve as a model of equality. Hundreds of gay soldiers have experienced hate, and many of their stories are not told. It was Nathanael Bodon’s story, a National Guardsman stationed in Iraq, that caught Cianni’s attention. That of a man shunned by his comrades, deprived of his dignity and kicked out of the army in 2009, for showing a picture of his boyfriend.
Touched by the veteran’s story, Cianni put together a photography project that would help the fight for human rights. Gays in the Military: How America Thanked Me documents the harmful psychological consequences of discrimination through portraits of the men and women who suffered from it. “This follow a long history of mistreatment endured by gay and lesbian people, ” says Cianni. “Harassment and discrimination based on sexual preference resulted in lost careers and personal lives. In many cases, these men and women, highly skilled, well educated, patriotic, courageous and productive, attained high rank, received numerous medals and held top-level jobs that were essential to the military.”
Starting in late 2009, Cianni started a study of people who risked their lives and were never honored. The photographer located more than one hundred cases through online social networks, organizations that reach out to victims of discrimination, and simple word-of-mouth. It took ten weeks to travel the country, record the testimonies and take the portraits of fifty gay veterans. We see men and women holding hands, sometimes bare-chested and also in classical poses in uniform, standing under a light or looking out a window. Waiting for the shutter to click, the subjects had a moment of freedom. Beyond the quality of Vincent Cianni’s black-and-white photographs, this is the message to keep: Vive la difference.
Jonas Cuénin
Gays in the Military: How America Thanked Me
Through February 11 at the Galerie FOVEA
143 Main Street
Beacon, NY 12508
