In honor of LGBT Awareness Month, LGBT Programs and the Presidential Commission on Sexual Orientation honored a relatively unknown war veteran, Deborah Sampson Gannett, Tuesday night at the Holmes Student Center’s Illinois Room.

NIU communication professor Robert Brookey gave a lecture titled, “Normalizing Deborah Sampson Gannett.”

Brookey, who joined the NIU faculty this fall, has been published in the Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and the International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies. He also is the author of the book, “Reinventing the Male Homosexual: The Rhetoric and Power of the Gay Gene,” which was published this year.

Brookey chose Gannett as the focus of his extensive research about the historical points of gay rights and activism.

“I think that she’s an important figure that is often overlooked in the [LGBT] community,” Brookey said. “The feminist movement was also an important precursor to the gay rights movement.”

Gannett has been called “America’s First Woman Soldier.” At the age of 21, she fought in the American Revolutionary War disguised as a male under the name of Robert Shurtleff. She enlisted in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army at Bellingham.

During the war, Gannett was wounded twice. After being treated for a severe fever, a doctor discovered her real sex. Gannett was discharged under the discretion of Gen. George Washington.

Upon being forced to leave, Gannett settled on a farm and later married Benjamin Gannett. With a family of five, they were forced to live in poverty because of Gannett’s injuries and her husband’s poor health conditions.

In 1802, Gannett traveled throughout New York and New England, giving lectures about her experiences in the military. During these lectures, she dressed in the military uniform. She died at the age of 66 in Sharon, Mass.

In 1983, she was proclaimed the Official Heroine of the State of Massachusetts. In 1985, the United States Capitol Historical Society issued a commemorative medal in her honor.

Lois Self, chair of the communication department, said the media also portrays women in roles that once were dominated by males.

“You see women now playing male roles on TV,” Self said. “Look at Buffy, Lara [Croft], Dark Angel …”

Diana Swanson, associate professor of women’s studies and English, said Gannett’s position in the military is a sign of triumph and satisfaction.

“I think it could have been a way of her getting out of poverty and to show a degree of patriotism,” she said.

Sophomore theater major Ben Thomas made a light-hearted comment about Gannett’s cross-dressing preference.

“I think it’s great that she found a man that didn’t mind her wearing a uniform around the house,” Thomas laughed.

Margie Cook, coordinator for LGBT Programs, said that it is important and inspiring to learn about a historical figure that often is overlooked.

“I thought it was fascinating to look at a piece of American history that most people don’t look at,” Cook said. “It shows some of the questions that we debate about in society today regarding female and male gender roles.”