"Scandalous Conduct Tending to the Destruction of Good Morals": Dynamics and Tension in Sex Crime Courts-martial in the Interwar U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1919-1941

Abstract

Interwar (1919-1941) U.S. Navy and Marine Corps sex crime courts-martial had complex dynamics and tension. Written policy criminalized most sex. When policy was enforced, it mostly targeted same-sex crimes. Enlisted men held different beliefs about sex than commissioned officers. Enlisted men’s lived experience was incongruent with policy. Leadership believed that men who had sex with other men should be expelled from the Navy and Marine Corps. Duty was a powerful and frequently used rhetorical tool by judge advocates to argue for conviction for sex crime. The Navy Medical Corps expressed the idea that same-sex sexual activity should not be criminalized as same-sex desire was a mental defect. The dynamics of written policy/policy in action, enlisted men/commissioned officers, and naval service/duty/sexology are explored.