TVZombie #10: Running For Honor
The below post appeared on the "TV Zombie" blog in early 2019. I've made some minor edits/additions, but a lot of this one is out of date.
TVZombie #11: Quantum Leap's "Running For Honor" and Gay Men in the Armed Forces
Quantum Leap is a show that integrates social commentary into nearly every episode, whether it be seamless or ham-fisted. Each week, scientist Sam Beckett “leaps” into the body of a totally different person and has to solve a problem before he can leap onto the next. Sam’s only help is Al Calavicci, his sex-obsessed best friend who visits him from the future as a hologram only Sam can see.
Although “Running For Honor” aired in 1992, much later than most of the episodes I usually review here, I chose it because of the controversy it managed to stir at the time, as well as the episode’s actual clumsy handling of homophobia.
The episode begins with Sam leaping into the body of Tommy York, track star, valedictorian, and cadet commander of Prescott Naval College, on June 11, 1964.
A friend of Tommy’s drives Sam to a date. As Sam looks around the restaurant for the girl he’s supposed to meet, a young man approaches him excitedly. As they sit down together, it dawns on Sam that he’s York’s date. The man, named Philip, shows Sam an article about a group called CHAIN (Cadets Honoring An Ideal Navy) that’s been jumping gay cadets. He invites Sam to meet him later that night at his independent newspaper.
When Sam goes to the address Philip gives him, Al shows up and tells him that Philip used to be a cadet, but was kicked out for some scandal. Sam hears a fight behind the door and bursts in. Philip is being beaten by two men in balaclavas. Al yells that Philip was kicked out for being gay, and as Sam turns to face him, one of the men knock him out.
After Sam comes to, he argues with Al about whether or not Tommy York is gay.
AL: “I’m saying that Ziggy says that there’s a 86.3% chance that this Tommy York is gay.”
SAM: “What about Karen? ...The admiral’s daughter, he’s dating her.”
AL: “Well that doesn’t make any difference. Gay men were married and had families. That was the perfect way to hide the truth.”
Sam asks for harder evidence than Ziggy’s (a computer that analyzes data from the past and present) projection. Al points him towards a letter York wrote out to his Admiral about CHAIN and how unethical he felt Philips expulsion was. Sam and Al argue whether or not this was romantically motivated.
Al then tells Sam that in two days, Philip will be found hanged in his closet. Sam’s job is to prevent Philip from either being killed by CHAIN or committing suicide.
On his way out, Al teases Sam about the way he’s standing.
AL: “Um, Sam...maybe...maybe it’s better if you don’t walk around with your hands on your hips like that.”
SAM: “Get out. And don’t come back until you join the twentieth century.”
As soon as Al’s gone, there’s a knock on the door. Sam answers and is greeted by an angry mob. He’s pushed against the wall and asked about his presence at Philip’s print shop.
SAM: “I went to help Philip.”
CHAIN LEADER: “Help a queer?”
SAM: “I’d appreciate it if you not use that word again.”
Sam tries to defend Philip, but the CHAIN members aren’t having it.
CHAIN LEADER: “You room with a queer, you become one. You’re through here, Tommy.”
The next day, Sam goes to track practice. The coach notices he’s slower than Tommy is, and asks him if he’s okay, pointing to his fresh black eye. Before he can explain, Admiral Spencer’s daughter shows up to meet him.
She asks him if he’s actually into her. She’s concerned he doesn’t like her because he hasn’t asked her to get intimate yet. Al listens in, insinuating that Tommy is gay.
Sam comes up with multiple reasons as to why Tommy might not want to get more serious with her, and he acts as if he has to defend Tommy’s sexuality.
Sam goes to meet Admiral Spencer in his office, where he is interrogated. The CHAIN leader who beat him last night claimed that Sam made passes at him. Sam tries to tell Admiral Spencer that he’s the leader of CHAIN. Since neither of them have any evidence, Admiral Spencer tells them they have 24 hours to gather some.
On his way back to his dorm, CHAIN grabs Sam and attempt to lynch him. When the branch doesn’t support his weight, they call it off as a threat.
CHAIN LEADER: “I want you to go to Admiral Spencer and admit that you’re a queer.”
SAM: “And why would I do that?”
The CHAIN leader shows Sam the letter Tommy had written to Admiral Spencer, the one Sam and Al fought over earlier.
SAM: “You broke into my room.”
CHAIN LEADER: “Call a cop.”
Sam gets back to his dorm to talk to Al. He makes some tea to calm down, which Al mocks.
SAM: “What is with you? Everything I do all of a sudden is wrong! The way I stand, the way I sit, what I drink--does drinking tea make me any less of a man than someone who drinks coffee? I mean is every tea drinker in the entire history of the world gay to you, is that it? What about the Boston Tea Party, was that like some kind of a gay boat festival or something?...And Tommy staying in Prescott, that bothers you, doesn’t it, because he might just happen to be gay.”
AL: “The problem is, this is the military... I’m talking about military as in armed forces. As in armed guns, as in war, as in fighting to the death! You’ve never been in combat...you should know, that there’s a lot of times, when you’re in combat, when the only thing between you and violent death, is the guy next to you. And I’m not so sure it’s a good idea that the guy next to you to be, uh…”
SAM: “Go on. Go on, say it. Queer. One thing has nothing to do with the other.”
Their argument gets cut short when Al is notified that Philip has printed off a list of every gay cadet in Prescott. Tommy is at the top of the list.
Sam heads to Philip’s newspaper to try to stop him, but Philip doesn’t want to.
PHILIP: “Tommy, all my life, I’ve had to hide who I am. And who I wanted to be. But these guys, they’re hurting people now, and there’s nobody around to do anything to stop them.”
SAM: “That doesn’t give you the right to print these names. Don’t you think that the people on this list, that they should have a choice? Isn’t that what you’re fighting for? Choice?”
Sam tries to get Philip to stop printing these names, but Philip says he’s tired of running. He’s called to see Admiral Spencer, who dismisses the leader of CHAIN as Sam enters.
ADMIRAL SPENCER: “You do understand why the military looks down on homosexuals?”
SAM: “No, sir, I don’t.”
ADMIRAL SPENCER: “Homosexuals are a security risk. They’re easily blackmailed and they lack leadership quality.”
SAM: “If you’ll excuse my saying so, sir, I don’t believe that a person’s sexual preference has anything to do with their ability to lead, or anything else for that matter.”
Al appears, standing behind Sam. As Admiral Spencer states his and the Navy’s disagreement, Al voices his, too. Admiral Spencer confines Sam to his dorm while an inquiry into his sexuality is done.
Tommy’s coach pays a visit. Sam tells him about CHAIN, and convinces him to help him free so he can save Philip. They find CHAIN in the locker room. Sam accuses the leader of CHAIN of being gay.
SAM: “It just seems to me that you’re taking a lot of this personally. You know, like it was your problem.”
CHAIN LEADER: “I’m not a fag.”
SAM: “Says who? I haven’t seen you with any girls lately. You always seem to be hanging around the locker room. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, it just seems kinda weird, that’s all.”
The CHAIN leader takes a swing at Sam, but Sam blocks him. The members of CHAIN waver and leave, to their leader’s protests. After the coach returns him to his dorm, Sam celebrates the disbandment of CHAIN. Al stops him, saying Philip is still fated to die.
Sam fakes an injury and escapes from his dorm.
Al finds Philip in his print shop. He’s set up the shop to look as if CHAIN had ransacked it, and is tying a noose. He’s setting CHAIN up to look like they lynched him.
Sam arrives and tells Philip to stop, but it isn’t until their coach arrives that Philip is moved.
COACH: “You’re not alone, Philip. I know about the guilt, the shame, the fear. Spent my whole life that way, wondering why I had to be different. Hoping that it’d just pass. Well, it’s okay to be different. And the only ones we have to be afraid of are ourselves. You and Tommy made me realize that.”
Philip loosens the noose and comes down, but Sam doesn’t leap out of Tommy’s body. Al determines that he has to win the race for the school, and apologizes for arguing with Sam earlier about allowing gay men to serve.
AL: “Was Tommy gay or not?”
SAM: “Does it matter?”
As he stands on the starting blocks, preparing to run, Sam leaps.
Historical Context: 1964
Five years before Stonewall, 1964 put a spotlight on gay men, rather than pushing them into the darkness. The first ever gay rights protest took place in September, in front of the Armed Forces Induction Center in New York City. Multiple books were published to educate the public about the “problem of homosexuality”, including “Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida”. Gay men were generally portrayed as rapists, pedophiles, and mentally ill. One article from December of 1963 calls being gay “one of the many problems confronting law enforcement”. The New York Times published an article discussing gay pride for the first time.
LIFE magazine published a twelve-page article on gay life called “Homosexuality In America”, outlining the average gay hangouts and trends, intending to inform the average American about the existence of gay life. It briefly touched upon gays in the military:
Homosexuals are unwelcome in the armed forces, where forced segregation of the sexes develops more pressure for deviate activity (as it does in prisons). Many homosexuals are drafted for the service--and quickly weeded out when they have been identified. Homophile groups have protested the unfairness of a system that forces a man into military service and then rejects him with a "less-than-honorable" or "dishonorable" discharge because of a psychological condition over which he has no control. But a DOD official explains the policy: "If we didn't throw them out, we'd be condoning homosexuality. The services' position has to be that homosexual practices prejudice morale and discipline.-Ron’s Log, LIFE Magazine, June 26, 1964 (I highly recommend you click that link! The entire LIFE special is in that numbered list at beginning of the post.)
Gay men and lesbians were specifically barred from serving their country since 1921, although rules forbidding sodomy had always been in place in some capacity. In fact, it wasn’t until 2013 that Article 125, prohibiting even consensual gay sex, was repealed.
In 1966, protests occurred on National Armed Forces Day (May 21) on behalf of the “Cimittee [SP] to Fight Exclusion of Homosexuals From the Armed Forces”.
Historical Context: 1992 Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell had not yet been put in place, but Keith Meinhold was discharged from the Navy for admitting that he is gay, then reinstated after a legal battle. Several states, including California, Vermont, New Jersey, and Oregon, banned discrimination against any person for their sexual orientation in the private sector (An interesting place to look for information from the nineties about LGBT law pioneering is in The National Journal Of Sexual Orientation Law). When “Running For Honor” aired, NBC lost around $500,000. Sponsors pulled out of their commercial spots. The original script that was submitted to NBC was much darker, with Philip being a high school student who hanged himself. Tommy wasn’t originally gay, and Al’s homophobia went unchallenged. This version of the episode was challenged by the Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and amended for airing. “Running For Honor” Today Despite how corny that ending was (“Does it really matter?” being the impetus for Sam’s leap), I think it’s an important message for the centrists among us. Even though Obama repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in 2010 and ended seventeen years of pushing gay service members back into the closet, there are always inside threats to gay service members. Harassment and sexual assault are major risks in the military for LGBT service members. Tangentially related, another facet of LGBT Americans are now banned from serving their country: transgender people. Well, not “officially” banned: “The court said the ban wasn't a ban at all, because transgender people could still serve if they presented as their sex identified at birth.” Which kinda is a ban, isn’t it? Al’s insistence that gay people don’t belong in the military sounds an awful lot like the anti-trans rhetoric you see today. And as for me, personally? As someone who’s been called a “bearded woman”, “laughing stock”, “thing”, “it”, “abomination”, etc., etc., I’m glad that I’m banned from serving. I don’t want to die for a country that will be glad to be rid of me.