Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020)

Citation: Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
Parent Document: Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2020-06-15
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4760997/bostock-v-clayton-county/ ↗

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In 1964, individuals who were known to be homosexual could not obtain security clearances, and any who possessed clearances were likely to lose them if their orientation was discovered. A 1953 Executive Order provided that background investigations should look for evidence of "sexual perversion," as well as "[a]ny criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct." Exec. Order No. 10450, § 8(a)(1)(iii), 3 CFR 938 (1949-1953 Comp.). "Until about 1991, when agencies began to change their security policies and practices regarding sexual orientation, there were a number of documented cases where defense civilian or contractor employees' security clearances were denied or revoked because of their sexual orientation." GAO, Security Clearances, at 2. See, e.g. , Adams v. Laird , 420 F.2d 230, 240 (CADC 1969) (upholding denial of security clearance to defense contractor employee because he had "engaged in repeated homosexual acts"); see also Webster v. Doe , 486 U.S. 592, 595, 601, 108 S.Ct. 2047, 100 L.Ed.2d 632 (1988) (concluding that decision to fire a particular individual because he was homosexual fell within the "discretion" of the Director of Central Intelligence under the National Security Act of 1947 and thus was unreviewable under the APA).

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