Department on State Letter
lgbt rights
This letter from the State Department to Frank Kameny clearly states that homosexuals were not seen as qualified to be employed by the government, because they were "threats to national security", and generally treated as second class citizens.
The State Department on the US
The Lavender Scare
Kameny's Appeal to the US Supreme Court
lgbt rights
After being fired from his US Government job in 1957 for being gay, Kameny appealed his case to the court system. He lost in the judicial system twice, and appealed his case to the Supreme Court with a carefully written, unapologetic, 64 page writ of certiorari where the case was unanimously dismissed on March 19th, 1961. This document is his 64 page writ, and Kameny's appeal was used as the basis for the Mattachine Society's defense of all the cases that they worked on for other LGBT people who had been dismissed from their jobs during the Lavender Scare.
Frank Kameny
Rainbow History Project
1961
Questionnaire on Blackmail of Homosexuals
LGBT Rights
This questionnaire was issued and created by the Mattachine Society in order to gather information about blackmailing procedures, and how they related to the safety of LGBT people in their jobs and in their daily lives
Frank Kameny
Rainbow History Project
The Mattachine Society
1960s
The Undeclared Witch Hunt
Gays in the government
This newspaper clipping talks about the trial of Benning Wenworth against the United States Federal Government that was fought after Wenworth last his security clearance as a government employee after he went public with his homosexual identity. The paper talks about how the government is not only searching for commies in the government, but now LGBT people are the targets for investigation in government jobs. Frank Kameny fought on this case, and this document contributes to showing how one of the biggest contributions that DC made to the movement was the controversy surrounding gays in the government
Tom Wicker
The Kameny Papers
Harpers Nov
1969