Eisenhower Anti-Gay Executive Order Turns 60

Just a friendly little history lesson about the real-world consequences of discrimination. Eisenhower’s executive order banning LGBT people from the federal civil service happened 60 years ago this month. For the most part, the ban went away in 1975, but it wasn’t officially done away with completely until 1995 when Clinton was president. 

Flashing forward to the present, I didn’t even give it a second thought when I decided to apply for a summer externship at the USPTO. It was only when I read the piece I linked to that I was reminded that there’s an awful lot that I take for granted that those generations who went before me had to fight a long battle for.