The term Section 8 eventually came to mean any service member given such a discharge or behaving as if deserving such a discharge, as in the expression, "he's a Section 8". The term comes from Section VIII of the World War II-era United States Army Regulation 615-360, which provided for the discharge of those deemed unfit for military service. Section 8 discharge was often given to homosexuals, bisexuals, cross-dressers and transgender people as they were deemed mentally unfit to serve in the military. A Section 8 discharge often made it difficult for people to find work in civilian life and did not allow veterans benefits. Discharge under Section 8 is no longer practiced, as medical discharges for psychological/psychiatric reasons are now covered by a number of regulations. In the Army, such discharges are handled under the provisions of AR 635-200, Active Duty Enlisted Administrative Separations. Chapter 5, paragraph 13 governs the separation of personnel medically diagnosed with a personality disorder.
In culture
Section 8 became a household phrase when used in the 1970s TV seriesM*A*S*H, in which the character Corporal Klinger was continually seeking one. His preferred method of doing so was cross-dressing.
In the 2003 movieBasic, a DEA agent Tom Hardy investigates a group of apparently insane mercenary Rangers turned drug dealers calling themselves Section 8.
In Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film Full Metal Jacket the character of Pvt. Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence is described as potentially being a Section 8 when it is noticed that he talks to his rifle, and another rifleman in the Lusthog Squad, aptly named Hand Job, was sent to a Navy psychologist due to excessive masturbation and was instantly classified as a Section 8 after he started masturbating in the waiting room.
At age 17, actor Sidney Poitier, who had lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Army the year before, obtained a discharge under Section 8 by faking mental illness during World War II.
