Gays | JFK Library

Contents:

• MEMORI OF JFK FROM HIS GAY BT FRIEND
• JFK MAY HAVE HAD GAY EXPERIENC WH IEND CLAIMS BGRAPHER
• INSI JFK’S INTIMATE RELATNSHIP WH GAY BT FRIEND WHO HAD HIS OWN ROOM IN THE WHE HOE
• EXCLIVE: THE TIMATE RELATNSHIP BETWEEN JFK AND HIS GAY IEND
• JFK GRANDSON JACK SCHLOSSBERG DID NOT COME OUT AS GAY
• GAYS

MEMORI OF JFK FROM HIS GAY BT FRIEND

Kennedy Printial Library: we hoe papers that pture an important part of the history of the Amerin gay rights movement. It n be tough to rearch the LGBTQ muny’s teractns wh the ernment the mid-20th century, when gay and lbian dividuals were often subject to discrimatn (both society at large and by the ernment) or vlence. Though their origal purpose was to advote for the gay muny, many of the letters and rpons eventually wound up ernment archiv around the untry, ensurg that documentatn of LGBTQ polil efforts would be prerved wh other official rerds of the time perd.

First page of the Constutn of the Mattache Society of Washgton, an early gay rights anizatn, sent to Print John F. But Kameny mak a few later appearanc the archiv, poppg up aga 1972 as a lear of Gay Cizens for McGovern.

The group urged Printial ndidat go on the rerd wh their polici toward “homosexually-oriented dividuals.

JFK MAY HAVE HAD GAY EXPERIENC WH IEND CLAIMS BGRAPHER

Gay Cizens for McGovern pamphlet, highlightg Senator Gee McGovern’s beliefs on gay rights durg the 1972 Printial mpaign. Frank Mankiewicz Personal Papers, Box 19, Gays. But the small file he tled “Gays” was created his pacy as Senator Gee McGovern’s 1972 Printial mpaign manager, and documents the mpaign’s teractns wh LGBTQ activists.

It don’t appear that Senator McGovern returned his qutnnaire, but he did propose a multi-pot plank support of gay rights early 1972.

The first page of an undated Gay Cizens for McGovern prs release tailg Senator McGovern’s policy proposals. While always tak some tective work to figure out why an archiv has somethg that seems pletely out of s spe – like 1972 gay rights materials at the JFK Library – we thk this is part of what mak archival exploratn (and the prervatn and scriptn that make possible) so important. Kennedy may have had an timate relatnship wh a gay iend om his prep school days, claims btsellg thor Jerry Oppenheimer, who has wrten two books about the Kennedys.

INSI JFK’S INTIMATE RELATNSHIP WH GAY BT FRIEND WHO HAD HIS OWN ROOM IN THE WHE HOE

Kennedy and Billgs met 1933 their sophomore year at Choate Rosemary Hall, an exclive Connecticut prep school. David Pts, the thor of Jack and Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordary Friendship, told him: “Lem was a gay man and he had a 14-year-old, good-lookg kid livg his hoe wh him and there had been mors bee of that.

Although there have been several mors throughout the s of JFK beg romantilly volved wh Marilyn Monroe, the former print has also faced mors of a relatnship wh his gay bt iend Lem Billgs. Kennedy and Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billgs met 1933 as sophomor at Choate Rosemary Hall, a Connecticut prep school where they worked on their class yearbook together. Wrer Gore Vidal once lled Billgs the “chief f****t at Camelot” and said Kennedy “felt que fortable the pany of homosexuals as long as they were smart enough to hold his tert.

EXCLIVE: THE TIMATE RELATNSHIP BETWEEN JFK AND HIS GAY IEND

” RELATED: Details About Kristen Stewart’s Fiancée Dylan Meyers & Their Adorably Casual ProposalThen, when Robert Kennedy was assassated 1968, his wife Ethel Skakel had Billgs act as the surrogate father to her son Bobby, the Skakel’s had prevly been homophobic to Wikimedia CommonsDurg their weddg Greenwich, Connecticut, Ethel’s brother knocked Billgs down the aisle at the church. David Pts, thor of 'Jack and Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordary Friendship' said “Lem was a gay man and he had a 14-year-old, good-lookg kid livg his hoe wh him and there have been mors bee of that. As his gay Svengali who guid and lerally tried to ntrol every aspect of Bobby Jr.

But Roosevelt's rerd has a few blemish, one of which had a direct impact on gay Amerins.

JFK GRANDSON JACK SCHLOSSBERG DID NOT COME OUT AS GAY

"Hoover thought many left-leang Amerins posed a threat to the natn, and he thought the same of gay people -- even though there's reason to believe Hoover was gay himself and a long-term relatnship wh ai Cly Tolson. Vannberg Jr., who lost a job Print Eisenhower's admistratn when Hoover told Eisenhower that Vannberg was gay.

GAYS

" That fn clud, evably, homosexualy. The ratnale was that gay people were likely to be blackmailed and therefore posed a threat to natnal secury. "Many loyal Amerins, by reason of stabily, alholism, homosexualy, or prev tennci to associate wh Communist-ont groups, are untentnally secury risks, " Ike himself wrote, although he also admted feelg guilty over his treatment of Vannberg.

Civil Service Commissn lifted the orr 1975, and the Department of Defense, which had ed to ny secury clearanc to gays and lbians, gradually ceased s "tensive qutng of gays...

JohnsonKennedy and Johnson may have never thought their civil rights law would be terpreted as protectg LGBT people, but Kennedy, at least, would probably approve -- his bt iend was a gay man, Lem Billgs. Also, the EEOC has held that Tle VII's protectns extend to discrimatn agast gay, lbian, and bisexual employe, if the discrimatn aris out of genr stereotyp.