LGBTQIA+ rights have come a long ways since the 1950s and 1960s, when the “Lavender Scare” in the Department of State saw 600 people kicked out from the Foreign Service on suspicion of being gay.

The given reason for these dismissals was fear that the Soviets or other hostile postings would use a diplomat’s homosexuality against them to blackmail them into spilling U.S. secrets, but it was perpetuated due to homophobia at the time.

In 1973, a federal judge ruled that being gay could not be the sole reason for termination, but the State Department still conducted hiring discrimination against people suspected of being gay.

You can read on at the link to get an inside description of how the State Department’s Office of Security would interrogate FSOs who were suspected of being gay.