I guess in the seventies, the attitude towards homosexuality was still one of intolerance, but changing because of the Stone Wall riots (I wouldn’t know as the book came out the following year after my birth). Having done a little research, I came up with the following:

In 1952, the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as a sociopathic personality disturbance. In 1956, however, Evelyn Hooker performed a study that compared the happiness and well-adjusted nature of self-identified homosexual men with heterosexual men and found no difference. Her study stunned the medical community and made her a hero to many gay men and lesbians, but homosexuality remained in the DSM until 1973.

Without reading the Forever War, I couldn’t tell you the exact premise or whether the author was anti or tolerant of homosexaulity, but it does seem that Joe Haldeman was anti-war and making observations that were parallel to the America/Viet War in the book. Perhaps he was also reflecting society’s changing attitudes towards the GLBT community?

If anyone has read the book, please add your thoughts below.

I reckon the opening shot will show a man showering in the lockerroom. He looks around and sees that all the other men are watching his arse. He runs out wet and naked to escape.