Section 7

Citation: Section 7
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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This view of homosexuality was reflected in the rules gov-
erning the federal work force. In 1964, federal “[a]gencies
could deny homosexual men and women employment be-
cause of their sexual orientation,” and this practice contin-
ued until 1975. GAO, D. Heivilin, Security Clearances:
Consideration of Sexual Orientation in the Clearance Pro-
cess 2 (GAO/NSIAD–95–21, 1995). See, e.g., Anonymous v.
Macy, 398 F. 2d 317, 318 (CA5 1968) (affirming dismissal of
postal employee for homosexual acts).
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 back-
ground 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 se-
curity 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 secu-
rity clearance to defense contractor employee because he
had “engaged in repeated homosexual acts”); see also Web-
ster v. Doe, 486 U. S. 592, 595, 601 (1988) (concluding that
decision to fire a particular individual because he was ho-
mosexual fell within the “discretion” of the Director of Cen-
tral Intelligence under the National Security Act of 1947
and thus was unreviewable under the APA).
The picture in state employment was similar. In 1964, it
was common for States to bar homosexuals from serving as
teachers. An article summarizing the situation 15 years af-
ter Title VII became law reported that “[a]ll states have
statutes that permit the revocation of teaching certificates
Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020) 31 ALITO, J., dissenting

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