What year is Boots set in? Timeline of the Netflix series explored

Boots premiered on Netflix on October 9, 2025, and is currently topping the viewership charts on the platform. The military drama follows a closeted gay teenager, Cameron Cope, who follows his best friend and joins the Marine Corps at a time when queer people are not allowed in the military.

The series is based on Greg Cope White’s memoir The Pink Marine. Greg is a former Marine who enlisted for service in 1979 and faced various challenges in concealing his sexuality from his fellows.

However, the show has changed the timeline from the real story, which makes one wonder what year Boots is set in. The answer is 1990. The events of the first season of the show take place in the year 1990.

The timeline of Boots

Boots is set in 1990, three years before the US government came up with the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, which allowed gay people to serve in the military as long as they remained closeted. The series begins with Cameron Cope joining the Marine Corps with his friend Ray McAffey, and ends with the announcement of the Gulf War, which began in August 1990.

As seen on Boots, before the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was introduced in 1993, gay men and lesbians were completely banned from serving in the US military. Anyone who was found to be gay, or even suspected of being gay, could be investigated, questioned, and discharged. These investigations often included humiliating interrogations and invasions of privacy.

Hence, people like Cameron Cope lived under constant fear of their secret being exposed. The ban was based on the belief that homosexuality was incompatible with military service. Even after the 1993 policy, queer people still faced discrimination and had to hide their true selves from everyone.

Things then finally changed in 2011 when the policy was struck down and openly gay people were finally allowed to serve in the military with dignity. Thus, the 1990s setting of the series represents a time when queer people had no rights in the military. If the show gets renewed for more seasons, it might explore how things have changed for good over time.

How the show's timeline differs from Greg Cope White’s real life

The timeline of Boots has been shifted by 11 years, as in reality, Greg Cope White joined the Marine Corps in 1979. He was an 18-year-old closeted boy from Texas at the time who lied about his sexuality to enlist and made it through the intense training at Parris Island.

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For six years, he worked as a communications specialist while hiding his real self, but he was able to form lasting friendships with his fellow Marines. After leaving the military in 1985, White turned to television writing and worked with legendary producer Norman Lear on shows like The Powers That Be and 704 Hauser. In 2016, he wrote the memoir The Pink Marine, which became the inspiration behind the Netflix series.

All episodes of Boots are now streaming on Netflix.

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