[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 740 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 740
Acknowledging and apologizing for the mistreatment of, and
discrimination against, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
individuals who served the United States in the uniformed services, the
Foreign Service, and the Federal civil service.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 18, 2024
Mr. Kaine (for himself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Coons, Mr. Merkley, Mr.
Fetterman, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Schatz, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Casey, Mr.
Durbin, Mr. Markey, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Warner) submitted
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Acknowledging and apologizing for the mistreatment of, and
discrimination against, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
individuals who served the United States in the uniformed services, the
Foreign Service, and the Federal civil service.
Whereas the Federal Government discriminated against and terminated hundreds of
thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (referred to in
this preamble as ``LGBT'') individuals who served the United States in
the uniformed services, the Foreign Service, and the Federal civil
service (referred to in this preamble as ``civilian employees'') for
decades, causing untold harm to those individuals professionally,
financially, socially, and medically, among other harms;
Whereas Congress enacted legislation, led oversight hearings, and issued reports
and public pronouncements against LGBT military service members, Foreign
Service members, and civilian employees;
Whereas the policy that led to the discharge and systematic screening of gay,
lesbian, and bisexual military service members was codified in a 1949
decree by the newly consolidated Department of Defense, which mandated
that ``homosexual personnel, irrespective of sex, should not be
permitted to serve in any branch of the Armed Forces in any capacity and
prompt separation of known homosexuals from the Armed Forces is
mandatory'';
Whereas the Federal Government maintained policies to drive hundreds of
thousands of LGBT military service members, who honorably served the
United States in uniform, including many who were fighting in wars
around the world, from its military ranks;
Whereas, in 1993, Congress enacted the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103-160; 107 Stat. 1547), which contained
the so-called ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy that prohibited lesbian,
gay, and bisexual military service members from disclosing their sexual
orientation while they served in the Armed Forces;
Whereas, despite the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy, LGBT military service
members continued to be investigated and discharged solely on the basis
of the sexual orientation of those military service members;
Whereas historians have estimated that at least 100,000 military service members
were forced out of the uniformed services between World War II and 2011
simply for being LGBT, while countless others were forced to hide their
identities and live in fear while serving, with many being denied access
to the benefits granted to honorably discharged veterans;
Whereas, although the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy was intended to allow
qualified citizens to serve in the Armed Forces regardless of their
sexual orientation, the policy was inherently discriminatory against
LGBT military service members because it prohibited those service
members from disclosing their sexual orientation;
Whereas, with the enactment of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (10
U.S.C. 654 note; Public Law 111321), Congress joined military leaders in
acknowledging that lesbian, gay, and bisexual military service members
serve the United States just as bravely and well as other military
service members;
Whereas the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (10 U.S.C. 654 note; Public
Law 111321) and the 2016 policy shift of the Department of Defense,
which permitted transgender individuals to enlist and openly serve in
the Armed Forces, have made the Armed Forces stronger and more
effective;
Whereas, in 2023, 12 years after the repeal of the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell''
policy, the Department of Defense announced a proactive review
initiative to identify veterans discharged due to their sexual
orientation and assess whether an upgrade in discharge is warranted;
Whereas military leaders have likewise acknowledged that, in addition to
lesbian, gay, and bisexual military service members, transgender service
members also serve the United States just as bravely and well as other
service members;
Whereas, under the pressures of the Cold War, and at the instigation and lead of
Congress, the Federal Government also pursued anti-LGBT policies, which
resulted in tens of thousands of LGBT civilian employees being
terminated;
Whereas the Department of State began investigations into employees for alleged
homosexual activity as early as the 1940s;
Whereas following the targeting of gay employees in the Department of State by
Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950, the Senate held hearings on ``The
Employment of Homosexuals and other Sex Perverts in the Government'',
which--
(1) led to the issuance of a widely read report that falsely asserted
that gay people posed a security risk because they could be easily
blackmailed; and
(2) found that gay people were unsuitable employees because ``one
homosexual can pollute a Government office'';
Whereas, in response to allegations against gay people made by Senator McCarthy,
the Department of State increased its persecution of lesbian, gay, and
bisexual employees;
Whereas more than 1,000 Department of State employees were dismissed due to
their sexual orientation, and many more individuals were prevented from
joining the Department of State due to discriminatory hiring practices;
Whereas thousands of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals served honorably in
the Department of State as Foreign Service officers, Foreign Service
specialists, civil servants, and contractors, upholding the values, and
advancing the interests, of the United States even as the country
discriminated against them;
Whereas the effort to purge gay and lesbian employees from the Federal
Government was codified in 1953 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower
issued Executive Order 10450 (18 Fed. Reg. 2489; relating to security
requirements for Government employment), which--
(1) defined ``perversion'' as a security threat; and
(2) mandated that every civilian employee and contractor pass a
security clearance;
Whereas, over many decades, the Federal Government, led by security officials in
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Civil Service Commission
(referred to in this preamble as the ``CSC''), and nearly every other
agency of the Federal Government, investigated, harassed, interrogated,
and terminated thousands of lesbian, gay, and bisexual civilian
employees for no other reason than the sexual orientation of those
employees;
Whereas these discriminatory policies by the Federal Government, the largest
employer in the United States, encouraged similar efforts at the State
and local level, particularly in higher education and the private
sector;
Whereas, in 1969, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit ruled in Norton v. Macy, 417 F.2d 1161 (1969) that--
(1) ``homosexual conduct'' may never be the sole cause for dismissal of
a protected civilian employee; and
(2) the potential embarrassment stemming from the private conduct of a
civilian employee may not affect the efficiency of the Federal civil
service;
Whereas, despite the decision in Norton v. Macy, the CSC continued its efforts
to rid the Federal Government of gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees
until 1973, when the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California ruled in Society for Individual Rights, Inc. v.
Hampton, 63 F.R.D. 399 (1973) that the exclusion or discharge from
Federal civil service of any lesbian, gay, or bisexual person because of
prejudice was prohibited;
Whereas many Federal Government agencies, including the National Security
Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of State,
none of which were subject to the rules of the CSC, continued to harass
and seek to exclude lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals from their
ranks until 1995, when President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order
12968 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to access to classified
information), which barred the practice of denying a Federal Government
security clearance solely on the basis of sexual orientation;
Whereas transgender military service members, Foreign Service members, and
civilian employees continued to be harassed and excluded from Federal
civil service until 2014, when President Barack Obama issued Executive
Order 13672 (79 Fed. Reg. 42971; relating to further amendments to
Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal
Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity),
which prohibited the Federal Government and Federal contractors from
discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity;
Whereas, on January 9, 2017, Secretary of State John Kerry issued a formal
apology for the pattern of discrimination against LGBT Foreign Service
members and civilian employees at the Department of State;
Whereas, despite persecution and systematic mistreatment by the Federal
Government beginning in the early 1940s through the 1990s, including
what historians have labeled as the ``Lavender Scare'', LGBT individuals
have never stopped honorably serving the United States;
Whereas LGBT individuals continued to make significant contributions to the
United States through their work as clerks and lawyers, surgeons and
nurses, Purple Heart recipients and Navy Seals, translators and air
traffic controllers, engineers and astronomers, teachers and diplomats,
rangers and Postal Service workers, and advisors and policy makers;
Whereas other countries throughout the world, including some of the closest
allies of the United States, have apologized for similarly
discriminating against LGBT military service members, Foreign Service
members, and civilian employees; and
Whereas, in order for the United States to heal and move forward, the Federal
Government must accord all LGBT individuals who were discriminated
against by, wrongfully terminated by, and excluded from serving in the
uniformed services, the Foreign Service, and the Federal civil service
the same acknowledgment and apology: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
The Senate--
(1) acknowledges and condemns the discrimination against,
wrongful termination of, and exclusion from the Federal civil
service, the Foreign Service, and the uniformed services of the
thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (referred
to in this section as ``LGBT'') individuals who were affected
by the anti-LGBT policies of the Federal Government;
(2) on behalf of the United States, apologizes to--
(A) the affected LGBT military service members,
Foreign Service members, veterans, and Federal civil
service employees; and
(B) the families of those service members,
veterans, and Federal civil service employees; and
(3) reaffirms the commitment of the Federal Government to
treat all military service members, Foreign Service members,
veterans, and Federal civil service employees and retirees,
including LGBT individuals, with equal respect and fairness.
SEC. 2. DISCLAIMER.
Nothing in this resolution--
(1) authorizes or supports any claim against the United
States; or
(2) serves as a settlement of any claim against the United
States.
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