Look, I… I may not be an explorer, or an adventurer, or a treasure-seeker, or a gunfighter, but I am proud of what I am. And what is that? I am a librarian!
did you know that in 1953 eisenhower issued an executive order which banned gay people from being employed in government
and it was specifically to root out lesbians who enjoyed the job security of government work
“To protect their careers, lesbian government workers moderated their behavior to avoid suspicion. They refused to socialize with other lesbians in public, attended social functions with gay men as their ‘dates,’ and carefully chose their wardrobes and makeup to project a feminine persona. Male employees who resented reporting to a female boss could trigger an investigation into her sexuality.” - Robert J Corber “Cold War Femme”
this era was called the lavender scare and was both a direct result of mccarthyism and the classification of homosexuality as a mental illness during ww2. over 10,000 lesbians and gay men lost their jobs and as a result the daughters of bilitis (the first ever lesbian activist group in the u.s.) formed in order to protect themselves and gay men
moment of genuine kinship with the man who noticed me applying lip chap while bagging my groceries as he took out his lip chap and applied as he walked by
truly the most genuine moment of compassion with a strange man has been when he met my eyes and motioned his lip chap in a cheers motion. forever my brother in arms
