A Bill before the United States Congress seeks a Government apology for hundreds of thousands of fired LGBTQ+ Public Servants, the majority from the military.
The legislation claims at least 100,000 Defence members were forced out of the armed forces between World War II and 2011 for being LGBTQ+.
Supporters of the Bill say LGBTQ+ Public Servants and armed forces personnel were systematically fired or forced to resign due to their sexual orientation or gender identity over the past seven decades.
Introduced by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, the Bill says the discrimination caused “untold harm to those individuals professionally, financially, socially, and medically, among other harms”.
“Throughout our history, far too many people serving our nation have lived in fear of retribution or persecution because of their sexual orientation,” Senator Kaine said.
“It’s time to acknowledge the harm caused to these Americans, their families, and our country by depriving them of the right to serve as Federal Civil Servants, diplomats, or in the armed services,” he said.
Thousands of Federal employees were fired or forced to resign from the late 1940s to the 1960s during what has been called the Lavender Scare — when the Federal Government sought to investigate and purge employees thought to be gay.
The American Psychiatric Association declared homosexuality a mental illness in 1952, and in 1953 President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued an Executive Order that said “sexual perversion” was a fireable offense.
It wasn’t until 1973 that the association changed its position and declared that “homosexuality does not meet the criteria for being a psychiatric disorder”.
Washington, 21 June 2021
