'Lavender Scare' Documents Government's Gay 'Witch Hunt' Lasting Four Decades: VIDEOS

Back in 2011 I posted about a documentary in progress called The Lavender Scare, chronicling the U.S. government's gay 'witch hunts' beginning in the 50's and 60's and efforts by early gay activists like the late Frank Kameny to put a stop to them.

The filmmakers are funding the home stretch of their film via Kickstarter and are excited to debut a couple of new clips from the project on Towleroad. Anyone with an interest in LGBT history should find these fascinating.

The first clip, “You can’t be gay and work here” is the story of Jamie Shoemaker, a linguist for the National Security Agency.

The filmmakers write:

When it was discovered he was gay, his supervisor demanded his resignation, took his ID card, and had him escorted out of the building. This happened in 1980 – long after the time most people associate with the anti-LGBT witch hunt. Jamie immediately called Frank Kameny, who had been successful by that time in protecting the jobs of gay people in non-sensitive agencies. Jamie was different, in that his position required top-secret security clearance. The conclusion of the story (which is not revealed in the clip) is that after a six-month fight spearheaded by Frank Kameny, Jamie became the first gay person in history to be allowed to keep his top-secret clearance. It was a front-page story in the Washington Post.

The second clip, “We do not hire homosexuals” is the government’s response to the early days of the gay rights movement.

In 1965, Frank Kameny and Jack Nichols organized the first gay rights demonstrations the nation had ever seen. With a handful of others, they picketed the White House and other government buildings to protest the on-going ban on hiring gay and lesbian workers. On August 28th, they picketed the State Department. At a news conference the day before, Secretary of State Dean Rusk was asked about the protest. The derisive laughter from the press corps and Rusk’s dismissive response to the protest is chilling and hard to believe when seen from today’s perspective.

You can check out the filmmakers' Kickstarter HERE.

And the film's official site HERE.

I've reposted the trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...

Asteroid Named To Honor Gay Rights Pioneer Frank Kameny

Legendary gay activist Frank Kameny soars above us as we speak. Kameny, a former government astronomer whose 1957 firing led to a lifetime of equality activism, died last year, but an amateur star watcher from Canada decided to keep his high-flying legacy alive by naming Minor Planet 40463 after the New York City native.

Fox News reports that the astronomer, a man named Gary Billings, was inspired after reading Kameny's obituary last year, and after some discussion with his peers, ultimately decided the asteroid should be called "Frankkameny." It's traveling too fast through space for a space between the names. Either that or that's just celestial parlance.

OPM director John Berry Talks About Changing Face of Gay Rights, Late Partner in Speech to UMD Grads: VIDEO

On May 20, John Berry, the out Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel and Management gave the commencement address at the University of Maryland. Berry told grads about the changing face of the LGBT rights movement, and  pioneering activist Frank Kameny, who was fired for his federal job for being gay.

In 1957 – not long before I was born – a man named Frank Kameny was fired from his Federal job, just for being gay. This was a man who fought his way across Europe in World War II, came home, got a Harvard Ph.D., and was told he was unfit to serve. In fact that every gay person was a security risk. He was called a criminal and a pervert by the head of the Civil Service – the precursor to the office I hold.

Frank fought back. He was the first American who did. All the way to the Supreme Court. He lost. But he persisted. He joined together with allies, and slowly – at times very slowly – he changed opinions and changed laws.

Berry also spoke of his late partner:

When I came out, my Dad asked me to never bring my partner to the house. This was hard because we were a close family, that gathered every Sunday for dinner, even after we'd all left home. Ten years later, when my partner was dying of AIDS, it was my father, a man who survived the Great Depression and Guadalcanal, who held him in his arms weeping, and saying "I love you like my own son."

Wounds do heal. Minds do change.

That is the value of truth. It lays a bedrock of certainty that the sand of half-truths can never rival. Be true to yourself and your values, because the world needs the whole you.

Watch (gay rights segment starts at 7:00), AFTER THE JUMP...

Gay Rights Pioneer Frank Kameny Memorial Today; All are Welcome

On October 21, I mentioned that gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny would lie in state at the Carnegie Library in Washington D.C. at a memorial today.

"All are welcome to visit and say goodbye to our fellow citizen, neighbor, friend, advocate and civil rights champion, Frank Kameny. This farewell viewing, to be held over several hours on November 3 to allow many friends to visit at their convenience, was made possible through our Mayor, the Honorable Vincent Gray, and with the endorsement of Members of the D.C. Council, as well as many friends and allies of the late Dr. Kameny...This will not be a formal program or a funeral service conducted during this viewing period. However, informal remarks by civic leaders and choral presentations may be made during the 5 hours set aside for viewing."

The viewing will run from 3 to 8.

Home of Frank Kameny and Meeting Place for D.C. Mattachine Society Listed in National Historic Register

The home of pioneering LGBT rights activist Frank Kameny, which in February 2009 was declared a District of Columbia Historic Landmark, has now been listed in the National Register of Historic Places, according to an announcement from the National Park Service:

In 1961 Kameny co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, an organization committed, through activism to achieving equal social and legal rights for homosexuals. Through lobbying of government officials, testifying before congressional committees, bringing court challenges, and picketing the White House, Kameny and his allies pressured the U.S. Civil Service Commission to eventually abandon its policy of denying homosexuals federal employment. Kameny led efforts to remove homosexuality as a basis for denying government security clearances. He was also involved in the first legal challenge to the U.S. military’s policy of discharging gay and lesbian service members, including the much-publicized case of gay Air Force Sergeant Leonard Matlovich. Kameny played a leading role in attacking the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) definition of homosexuality as a mental illness. In 1973, the APA voted to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders. In 1998, President Clinton signed an Executive Order banning discrimination in federal employment based upon sexual orientation.

For years, Dr. Kameny’s residence at 5020 Cathedral Avenue, NW, in Washington, DC, served as a meeting place, archives, informal counseling center, headquarters of the Mattachine Society, and a safe haven for visiting gay and lesbian activists. It was here that Dr. Franklin E. Kameny developed the civil rights strategies and tactics that have come to define the modern gay rights movement. 

Kameny died in October at the age of 86.

Obama White House Has No Comments On Kameny's Death

The Washington Blade caught Jay Carney, the White House press spokesman, in an unusually flat-footed moment when seeking the president's reaction to the death of LGBT civil rights leader Frank Kameny. “I’ll have to take that," said Carney. "I know that he passed away, but I don’t have a comment on that."

Really? How's about "I know that he passed away, and we all obviously feel for his friends and colleagues"?

Or: "I know that he passed away, and I know we're all grateful for the work he's done over the years on behalf of American citizens ..."

Nawp. Carny kicked the can down the road. Carney said he had no explanation for why the White House hadn't issued a statement on Kameny's death, and when asked whether President Obama would visit Mr. Kameny's body as it lies in state, Carney said, rather testily: "I'm not his scheduler."

Hey! The president's a busy guy! No hard feelings! But maybe just a little sentiment wouldn't hurt? A little bit of fellow-feeling?

The president's said nice things about Mr. Kameny before. As the Blade points out:

In 2009, Obama noted Kameny’s presence at the White House reception commemorating June as Pride month and called Kameny a "civil rights pioneer."

"Frank was fired from his job as an astronomer for the federal government simply because he was gay," Obama said. "And in 1965, he led a protest outside the White House, which was at the time both an act of conscience but also an act of extraordinary courage. And so we are proud of you, Frank, and we are grateful to you for your leadership."