'Lust In Uniform' Exhibit Takes Look Back At Gay Men In The U.S. Military Through The Years (PHOTOS)

To much of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, the " Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is but a distant memory nearly two years after its controversial repeal. But a New York art exhibit is taking a look back at the days when gay military members had to stay closeted when it came to their personal lives.

"Lust in Uniform" returns to New York's Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art on Aug. 9 for just three days, after two prior showings in June and July. The exhibit features images of "love and lust with, and among, soldiers, sailors and others with weapons and uniforms," according to museum officials, and includes some erotically-charged pieces by Michael Sennet, Thom Adams, Yznaga Regan and others.

One of the exhibition's curators described the show not only as "timely and significant," particularly in the wake of the 2011 "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal, but also representative of the long-standing fascination many gay men have with military officers.

"Now that gays and lesbians are free to serve openly in the U.S. military, Leslie-Lohman was proud to contribute to this summer’s national program that opens museum doors free to service members and their families," James Saslow told The Huffington Post in an email. "And now that it’s permissible to express queer ideals of beauty and desire while wearing combat fatigues, we could draw on the Museum’s strong holdings in fine arts, art books, and mass media to show our audiences that soldiers, sailors, and other men in uniform have been a mainstay of gay male fantasy for over a century.”

For more information on "Lust in Uniform," which can be found at Leslie-Lohman's Prince St. Project Space from Aug. 9 --11, click here.

Check out a selection of images from the exhibit below: