An American apology for decades of anti-LGBTQ persecution is long overdue

Federal policy was to fire LGBTQ workers.
Photo: Mattachine Society of Washington DC

One of the darkest stains on American history was the persecution of LGBTQ people. Bar raids, employment purges, entrapments — the tactics used to harass and ruin the lives of LGBTQ Americans were lengthy.

What is worse is that the federal government was often at the forefront of the attacks. From the lavender scare of the McCarthy era to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, government policy was structured to target LGBTQ people for discrimination and dismissal.

Related: New bill could restore veteran benefits to 114,000 unfairly discharged LGBTQ military members

To remind people of that persecution, the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. has collected hundreds of documents that prove the federal government’s role as a leader in harassing LGBTQ people, especially employees.

In a new video titled “The Acknowledgment,” the Mattachine Society lays out the history of the persecution and the case for a formal government apology.

Using what it terms “archive activism,” the Society has collected a haunting record of the extensive attacks on LGBTQ people by the government. The Society has been aided in its research by…

Read full story, and more, from Source: An American apology for decades of anti-LGBTQ persecution is long overdue

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