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Lavender Scare

DC
Fired for Being Gay, Frank Kameny Spent the Rest of His Life Fighting Back

Fired for Being Gay, Frank Kameny Spent the Rest of His Life Fighting Back

06/24/2019 in DC by Hannah Schuster

You might be familiar with the Red Scare, Senator Joseph McCarthy's efforts to remove suspected communists from the U.S. State Department. But what about the Lavender Scare? Starting in the 1940s, government officials began firing thousands of employees based on their sexual orientation. Frank Kameny, a Harvard-educated astronomer was one of them. He lost his job in 1957 and challenged the dismissal all the way to the Supreme Court. 

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DC
The Numbers Game at the National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights

The Numbers Game at the National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights

05/15/2017 in DC by Marissa Dever

When organizers from the National Gay Mobilizing Committee approached him in 1973 about a gay rights march in Washington, Larry Maccubbin was skeptical. A poor turnout, he feared, could undermine the hard work that he and other local activists had done to advance LGBT rights in the nation’s capital.

“We do not want to receive any setbacks at this time due to a poorly conceived, hastily planned, and shabbily supported demonstration,” he replied.

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