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Technobarbarian
May 22, 2013, 10:55:08 AM5/22/13
to
Here's a little something for the folks who are discussing same sex
marriage to think about.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-francis/perved-eisenhower-anti-gay-executive-order-turns-60_b_3181062.html
The American "pervert" was defined, codified and banned from public service
by an executive order signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, effective 60
years ago this month (May 27).
The American pervert was a "criminal, infamous, dishonest" being. Worse, he
or she was "immoral or notoriously disgraceful," incapable of "unswerving
loyalty to the United States." Conjured from Cold War politics, the
perfervid mind of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and Justice Department
attorneys, Executive Order 10450 authorized personal investigations by the
FBI and Civil Service Commission for "sexual perversion" in all branches of
the federal government. According to the White House press release, in the
first four months, 1,456 employees had been "separated from Federal service
... for security reasons only." Some 800 homosexuals were fired or had
resigned by 1955, according to David Johnson, author of The Lavender Scare.
Untold thousands more were hounded and banned from public service for
decades to come.
The historic animus of the federal government toward homosexuals, now a
factor in U.S. Supreme Court deliberations on same-sex marriage, does not
begin with "millennia of moral teaching," as Chief Justice Warren Burger
premised in his opinion in the 1986 case Bowers v. Hardwick, upholding
anti-gay sodomy laws. Rather, it was locked into the law with this 1953
executive order.
Most Americans have not heard of this executive order. The three most recent
Eisenhower biographies give it exactly no mention. These are sophisticated
and nuanced books by Jean Edward Smith (Eisenhower: In War and Peace, Random
House, 2012), Jim Newton (Eisenhower, The White House Years, Doubleday,
2011) and Evan Thomas (Ike's Bluff, Little, Brown, 2012). The executive
order that invented the disgraceful "pervert" is not referenced once in
these books. D.C. insider journalist Evan Thomas' biography focuses on the
president's canny foreign policy strategy while ignoring the State
Department purges of homosexuals. The autobiography of Eisenhower's attorney
general, Herbert Brownell, Advising Ike, published more than 20 years after
the Stonewall riots, does not mention the executive order. If one accepts
these histories as a contemporary mainstream consensus, the "Lavender Scare"
is but a footnote to McCarthyism, or it never happened.
To better understand this complete deletion of gay political history, last
year I visited the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in
Abilene, Kan. Here are the documents and the exhibits, under the management
of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), that tell the
story of the Eisenhower presidency. With the able assistance of the library
research staff, I was able to uncover the true story of Eisenhower political
advisor and family friend Arthur Vandenberg Jr., a human face for the
injustice of the time.
Vandenberg helped organize "Citizens for Eisenhower," the national
grassroots effort to promote candidate Ike as a Republican. He wrapped Gen.
Eisenhower in the mantle of his own revered father, Senate Foreign Relations
Committee chairman Arthur Vandenberg Sr., to help win a bruising fight for
the Republican nomination. After the election Eisenhower chief of staff
Sherman Adams announced Vandenberg's appointment as Secretary to the
President. But this was not to be: The president-elect fired him just before
the inauguration. J. Edgar Hoover had given Eisenhower his report:
Vandenberg was homosexual. In a Jan. 5, 1953, memorandum, Hoover wrote, "I
told the General that Vandenberg had asked that we not interview the young
man at present living with Vandenberg." The president wrote to Vandenberg in
a Jan. 17 letter, "I am very distressed about your health ... I realize that
you have been in this thing from the very beginning ... On that account I
feel in some respects guilty. ... Meanwhile, as I know you understand, we
have to go ahead with the setup." Vandenberg's "health" was the cover story.
Three months later President Eisenhower signed the executive order that
could provide an additional benefit: more cover if it were ever discovered
that a homosexual, by definition a security risk, had become part of Gen.
Eisenhower's inner circle. This was a presidential conflict with friendship
and loyalty, the personal kind.
The Eisenhower Museum's version of events appears on a bright-red text board
under the heading "Personal Freedom vs. National Security." It reads,
"Eisenhower believed that personal initiative and freedom lay at the heart
of the American way of life." Later it continues, "Eisenhower recognized
that internal threats to American national security existed. ...
Investigators reviewed thousands of government workers deemed possible
security risks, and dismissed around 1,500 between 1953 and 1957. Another
6,000 resigned rather than undergo often far-reaching questioning of their
personal lives."
I had found my answer. The Eisenhower Museum interprets the executive order
by not mentioning the word "perversion." The visitor must decode the phrase
"questioning their personal lives." LGBT Americans remain the invisible
human wreckage. Newly declassified documents reveal that the "questioning"
was a systematic, sometimes obsessive investigation, managed by Hoover
himself, as part of the FBI's "Sex Deviates in Government Service" program.
Hoover appointed a "Sex Deviates" contact in each of the branches of
government. It was these individuals' responsibility to identify or contact
the deviates for investigation. Covering the United States courts, Hoover's
contact was one Elmore Whitehurst. In September 1953 Hoover wrote
Whitehurst, "[A]n employee of the U.S. Court of Claims ... admitted that he
was a homosexual." Hoover had been contacted by the employee's attorney and
was furious at the breach of confidentiality. Elmore Whitehurst, with an
office in the U.S. Supreme Court building, was duly upbraided.
Beyond contacts like Whitehurst, and above the "Sex Deviates" program
itself, stood the Department of Justice. Eisenhower Library staff helped us
discover an April 10, 1953, White House memorandum from presidential advisor
Bernard Shanley to chief of staff Sherman Adams: "Assistant Attorney General
Warren Burger will have the responsibility of defending any action under the
security order ... He is aware that this will also include the regulations."
Warren Burger, hardly in "millennia" past but in 1953, took on his first
D.C. assignment, at age 46, vigorously defending the executive order. Three
years later Burger was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia, one day to become the chief justice of the Supreme
Court.
There is no remedy for the thousands whose lives were destroyed, the searing
and humiliating personal investigations, the untold numbers of men and women
driven from public service. But, as in any "truth and reconciliation"
project, let us at least tell the story. The National Archives and Records
Administration working with the curators at the Eisenhower Presidential
Library and Museum should take down that text board for review and a
rewrite. Add the words "sexual perversion." Following the word "thousands"
insert "homosexuals." Then add "LGBT Americans."
The rest of the story:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/20/gay-bashing-like-ike-column/2343963/
http://www.thelavenderscare.com/about-the-film
TB
marriage to think about.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-francis/perved-eisenhower-anti-gay-executive-order-turns-60_b_3181062.html
The American "pervert" was defined, codified and banned from public service
by an executive order signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, effective 60
years ago this month (May 27).
The American pervert was a "criminal, infamous, dishonest" being. Worse, he
or she was "immoral or notoriously disgraceful," incapable of "unswerving
loyalty to the United States." Conjured from Cold War politics, the
perfervid mind of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and Justice Department
attorneys, Executive Order 10450 authorized personal investigations by the
FBI and Civil Service Commission for "sexual perversion" in all branches of
the federal government. According to the White House press release, in the
first four months, 1,456 employees had been "separated from Federal service
... for security reasons only." Some 800 homosexuals were fired or had
resigned by 1955, according to David Johnson, author of The Lavender Scare.
Untold thousands more were hounded and banned from public service for
decades to come.
The historic animus of the federal government toward homosexuals, now a
factor in U.S. Supreme Court deliberations on same-sex marriage, does not
begin with "millennia of moral teaching," as Chief Justice Warren Burger
premised in his opinion in the 1986 case Bowers v. Hardwick, upholding
anti-gay sodomy laws. Rather, it was locked into the law with this 1953
executive order.
Most Americans have not heard of this executive order. The three most recent
Eisenhower biographies give it exactly no mention. These are sophisticated
and nuanced books by Jean Edward Smith (Eisenhower: In War and Peace, Random
House, 2012), Jim Newton (Eisenhower, The White House Years, Doubleday,
2011) and Evan Thomas (Ike's Bluff, Little, Brown, 2012). The executive
order that invented the disgraceful "pervert" is not referenced once in
these books. D.C. insider journalist Evan Thomas' biography focuses on the
president's canny foreign policy strategy while ignoring the State
Department purges of homosexuals. The autobiography of Eisenhower's attorney
general, Herbert Brownell, Advising Ike, published more than 20 years after
the Stonewall riots, does not mention the executive order. If one accepts
these histories as a contemporary mainstream consensus, the "Lavender Scare"
is but a footnote to McCarthyism, or it never happened.
To better understand this complete deletion of gay political history, last
year I visited the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in
Abilene, Kan. Here are the documents and the exhibits, under the management
of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), that tell the
story of the Eisenhower presidency. With the able assistance of the library
research staff, I was able to uncover the true story of Eisenhower political
advisor and family friend Arthur Vandenberg Jr., a human face for the
injustice of the time.
Vandenberg helped organize "Citizens for Eisenhower," the national
grassroots effort to promote candidate Ike as a Republican. He wrapped Gen.
Eisenhower in the mantle of his own revered father, Senate Foreign Relations
Committee chairman Arthur Vandenberg Sr., to help win a bruising fight for
the Republican nomination. After the election Eisenhower chief of staff
Sherman Adams announced Vandenberg's appointment as Secretary to the
President. But this was not to be: The president-elect fired him just before
the inauguration. J. Edgar Hoover had given Eisenhower his report:
Vandenberg was homosexual. In a Jan. 5, 1953, memorandum, Hoover wrote, "I
told the General that Vandenberg had asked that we not interview the young
man at present living with Vandenberg." The president wrote to Vandenberg in
a Jan. 17 letter, "I am very distressed about your health ... I realize that
you have been in this thing from the very beginning ... On that account I
feel in some respects guilty. ... Meanwhile, as I know you understand, we
have to go ahead with the setup." Vandenberg's "health" was the cover story.
Three months later President Eisenhower signed the executive order that
could provide an additional benefit: more cover if it were ever discovered
that a homosexual, by definition a security risk, had become part of Gen.
Eisenhower's inner circle. This was a presidential conflict with friendship
and loyalty, the personal kind.
The Eisenhower Museum's version of events appears on a bright-red text board
under the heading "Personal Freedom vs. National Security." It reads,
"Eisenhower believed that personal initiative and freedom lay at the heart
of the American way of life." Later it continues, "Eisenhower recognized
that internal threats to American national security existed. ...
Investigators reviewed thousands of government workers deemed possible
security risks, and dismissed around 1,500 between 1953 and 1957. Another
6,000 resigned rather than undergo often far-reaching questioning of their
personal lives."
I had found my answer. The Eisenhower Museum interprets the executive order
by not mentioning the word "perversion." The visitor must decode the phrase
"questioning their personal lives." LGBT Americans remain the invisible
human wreckage. Newly declassified documents reveal that the "questioning"
was a systematic, sometimes obsessive investigation, managed by Hoover
himself, as part of the FBI's "Sex Deviates in Government Service" program.
Hoover appointed a "Sex Deviates" contact in each of the branches of
government. It was these individuals' responsibility to identify or contact
the deviates for investigation. Covering the United States courts, Hoover's
contact was one Elmore Whitehurst. In September 1953 Hoover wrote
Whitehurst, "[A]n employee of the U.S. Court of Claims ... admitted that he
was a homosexual." Hoover had been contacted by the employee's attorney and
was furious at the breach of confidentiality. Elmore Whitehurst, with an
office in the U.S. Supreme Court building, was duly upbraided.
Beyond contacts like Whitehurst, and above the "Sex Deviates" program
itself, stood the Department of Justice. Eisenhower Library staff helped us
discover an April 10, 1953, White House memorandum from presidential advisor
Bernard Shanley to chief of staff Sherman Adams: "Assistant Attorney General
Warren Burger will have the responsibility of defending any action under the
security order ... He is aware that this will also include the regulations."
Warren Burger, hardly in "millennia" past but in 1953, took on his first
D.C. assignment, at age 46, vigorously defending the executive order. Three
years later Burger was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia, one day to become the chief justice of the Supreme
Court.
There is no remedy for the thousands whose lives were destroyed, the searing
and humiliating personal investigations, the untold numbers of men and women
driven from public service. But, as in any "truth and reconciliation"
project, let us at least tell the story. The National Archives and Records
Administration working with the curators at the Eisenhower Presidential
Library and Museum should take down that text board for review and a
rewrite. Add the words "sexual perversion." Following the word "thousands"
insert "homosexuals." Then add "LGBT Americans."
The rest of the story:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/20/gay-bashing-like-ike-column/2343963/
http://www.thelavenderscare.com/about-the-film
TB
George Anthony
May 22, 2013, 11:43:10 AM5/22/13
to
"Technobarbarian" <Technobarbar...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:knim0n$mp3$1...@dont-email.me...
words?
Bob Hatch
May 22, 2013, 11:56:49 AM5/22/13
to
On 5/22/2013 8:43 AM, George Anthony wrote:
>
>
>
> Captain Cut-'n-Paste rides again! Have you ever posted anything in your
> own words?
Why did you not delete his drivel?
>
>
>
> Captain Cut-'n-Paste rides again! Have you ever posted anything in your
> own words?
--
I do not carry a gun hoping that
I'll be able to shoot someone, anymore than
I carry a jack hoping I'll have a flat
tire.
Me.
George Anthony
May 22, 2013, 1:59:15 PM5/22/13
to
"Bob Hatch" <bob....@ymail.com> wrote in message
news:519ceac3$0$54940$c3e8da3$e408...@news.astraweb.com...
them for comic relief. With what's going on in the country these days, I
can use a good laugh.
Bob Hatch
May 22, 2013, 2:24:38 PM5/22/13
to
On 5/22/2013 10:59 AM, George Anthony wrote:
>
>
> "Bob Hatch" <bob....@ymail.com> wrote in message
> news:519ceac3$0$54940$c3e8da3$e408...@news.astraweb.com...
>> On 5/22/2013 8:43 AM, George Anthony wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>
>>>
>>> Captain Cut-'n-Paste rides again! Have you ever posted anything in your
>>> own words?
>>
>> Why did you not delete his drivel?
>>
>> --
>> I do not carry a gun hoping that
>> I'll be able to shoot someone, anymore than
>> I carry a jack hoping I'll have a flat
>> tire.
>> Me.
>
> I did after I read it.
No, you replied and left all of his crap intact. You don't have to leave
>
>
> "Bob Hatch" <bob....@ymail.com> wrote in message
> news:519ceac3$0$54940$c3e8da3$e408...@news.astraweb.com...
>> On 5/22/2013 8:43 AM, George Anthony wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>
>>>
>>> Captain Cut-'n-Paste rides again! Have you ever posted anything in your
>>> own words?
>>
>> Why did you not delete his drivel?
>>
>> --
>> I do not carry a gun hoping that
>> I'll be able to shoot someone, anymore than
>> I carry a jack hoping I'll have a flat
>> tire.
>> Me.
>
> I did after I read it.
the entire OP. :-)
Like I said about Hunter's inane ramblings, I
> read them for comic relief. With what's going on in the country these
> days, I can use a good laugh.
Technobarbarian
May 22, 2013, 3:14:25 PM5/22/13
to
"George Anthony" <gant...@gmail.net> wrote in message
news:knior7$7pl$1...@dont-email.me...
posted 14 of your own words (careful you don't strain yourself--a couple of
them had more than one syllable) stating the same stale old complaint yet
again and my new information again, which wasn't new anymore because I had
just posted it. Yeah, you get my vote for Net Nanny of the day.
Give them hell Booby, maybe you can teach the idjits proper
etiquette yet. I vote for you to be George's assistant--he needs all the
help he can get.
TB
George Anthony
May 22, 2013, 5:10:19 PM5/22/13
to
news:knj56s$lao$1...@dont-email.me...
> Give them hell Booby, maybe you can teach the idjits proper
> etiquette yet. I vote for you to be George's assistant--he needs all the
> help he can get.
>
> TB
What's an idjit?
Hows that for brevity, Bob?
> Give them hell Booby, maybe you can teach the idjits proper
> etiquette yet. I vote for you to be George's assistant--he needs all the
> help he can get.
>
> TB
Hows that for brevity, Bob?
film...@gmail.com
May 22, 2013, 5:56:56 PM5/22/13
to
The main thing is that: "Birds of a feather, flock together! " HawHawHaw!
Josephus Jefferson Jackson Jones
film...@gmail.com
May 22, 2013, 6:02:28 PM5/22/13
to
When did that sort of persecution come to an end?
Willie O'Malley Jones
Technobarbarian
May 22, 2013, 7:38:49 PM5/22/13
to
Technobarbarian
May 22, 2013, 11:16:35 PM5/22/13
to
<film...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:53af63d2-dfde-40a3...@googlegroups.com...
> On Wednesday, May 22, 2013 7:55:08 AM UTC-7, Technobarbarian wrote:
>> Here's a little something for the folks who are discussing same sex
>>
>> marriage to think about.
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-francis/perved-eisenhower-anti-gay-executive-order-turns-60_b_3181062.html
>>
>> Here's a little something for the folks who are discussing same sex
>>
>> marriage to think about.
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-francis/perved-eisenhower-anti-gay-executive-order-turns-60_b_3181062.html
>>
>> The rest of the story:
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/20/gay-bashing-like-ike-column/2343963/
>>
>> http://www.thelavenderscare.com/about-the-film
>>
>>
>>
>> TB
>
>
> Gawd! Just think, there's plenty of people who think we should return to
> those good old days?
>
> When did that sort of persecution come to an end?
>
> Willie O'Malley Jones
It hasn't. "Don't ask, don't tell" was probably the last vestige for the
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/20/gay-bashing-like-ike-column/2343963/
>>
>> http://www.thelavenderscare.com/about-the-film
>>
>>
>>
>> TB
>
>
> Gawd! Just think, there's plenty of people who think we should return to
> those good old days?
>
> When did that sort of persecution come to an end?
>
> Willie O'Malley Jones
Fed's. I have a lesbian friend who was booted out of the Air Force when her
diary was stolen and turned over to the brass under that rule.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/20/gay-bashing-like-ike-column/2343963/
"The story of the government's mass firing of gay workers is told in the new
documentary The Lavender Scare by former CBS 60 Minutes producer Josh
Howard.
Howard, 58, is a gay man of his generation. He remained closeted to many
co-workers during his career.
"I worked for Mike Wallace, and those old guys came from rough and tumble
newsrooms," Howard says. "The word 'faggot' got thrown around." That would
never happen at CBS today, Howard says, which explains why he had a hard
time convincing funders of his film's relevance.
"Hollywood is making movies about Lincoln and Jackie Robinson, so it's
frustrating when people don't value gay history," Howard says. "This film
matters because it honors the people who sacrificed everything to get where
we are now. And it reminds us that we're not done. You can still get fired
in 29 states just for being gay."
LGBT struggle continues
While Congress is again considering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to
protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) workers, the
legislation has a long history of failure and continued hurdles.
Life in a San Francisco high school might look good for two boys holding
hands. But it can get them fired in a state like Texas, Georgia or Florida.
And there are still 38 states that won't marry them. Next month's Supreme
Court rulings on same-sex marriage are unlikely to grant any sweeping
national rights."
TB
film...@gmail.com
May 23, 2013, 3:14:48 AM5/23/13
to
I find it hard to believe that a person can be fired from any state, or federal service, just for being gay, in 2013? Would you have any stats on such terminations?
In the early 80s, the Military really tried purging itself of lesbians. They booted out several alleged lesbians from the Army's language school in Monterey, CA, including a friend of mine! The males drummed out of the military during that same time were mostly officers. at least, that's what I was told?
I found this strange, because I knew several queers among the "EM", when I was in the Army during the mid to late 60s? The most flamboyantly outrageous, was one of our company cooks, whom everyone called, "Sweet Pea"? He was a Spec 5, had been in the Army for 15 years, and sort of resembled a poofy male "Aunt Jemima"! HawHawHaw!
Former Specialist 4th Class Lampson, USAVN
In the early 80s, the Military really tried purging itself of lesbians. They booted out several alleged lesbians from the Army's language school in Monterey, CA, including a friend of mine! The males drummed out of the military during that same time were mostly officers. at least, that's what I was told?
I found this strange, because I knew several queers among the "EM", when I was in the Army during the mid to late 60s? The most flamboyantly outrageous, was one of our company cooks, whom everyone called, "Sweet Pea"? He was a Spec 5, had been in the Army for 15 years, and sort of resembled a poofy male "Aunt Jemima"! HawHawHaw!
Former Specialist 4th Class Lampson, USAVN
Technobarbarian
May 23, 2013, 10:25:32 AM5/23/13
to
<film...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:e777959f-9c4d-48f3...@googlegroups.com...
from employment discrimination in 29 states. Most of the firing for being
gay is probably done by private employers these days and I doubt that any
stats exist.
Here's an interesting stat that's an example of continuing Federal
discrimination:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/03/27/how-many-federal-workers-identify-as-lgbt/
"About 2 percent of federal workers identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or
transgender, according to the government's 2012 Employee Viewpoint Survey.
That compares to about 3.4 percent of Americans overall who self-identified
as LGBT in a 2012 Gallup poll.
Questions of sexual orientation never appeared on the Employee Viewpoint
Survey until last year, when the Office of Personnel Management asked
workers to volunteer the information.
The 2012 survey results showed that 87 percent of the federal workforce
identifies as heterosexual, while 2.2 percent - or about 13,600 employees -
placed themselves in the LGBT category and 10.8 percent said they would
prefer not to say.
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as a union
between one man and one woman for federal purposes, prevents federal workers
from sharing their employer health benefits with same-sex partners."
We had a couple of lonely and homesick straight guys get out of the
same small bed one morning. They admitted to mutual masturbation the
previous evening. They were quickly sent home and given less than honorable
discharges.
TB
Mike Hendrix at dot
May 23, 2013, 11:22:47 AM5/23/13
to
Party.
They have not changed much over the years.
mike
--
Pensacola, FL
http://www.travellogs.us/
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