Cia gay

To be openly gay or gay, according to the twisted official logic of that bygone but not-distant era, was presumed to be so shameful that intelligence agency employees would do anything to keep their dark secret, including handing over classified information to a foreign adversary who threatened blackmail.

Homosexuality, therefore, was both a moral offense and a gateway cia treason. Then came a remarkable shift. It was a decision that may have been unprecedented cia the history of the CIA. Suddenly, Ballard had nothing to hide.

LANGLEY, VA — Out & Equal Workplace Advocates announced today that the CIA’s Agency Network for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Officers and Allies (ANGLE) is the recipient of the first ever “Excellence in Government Leadership Award.” The award recognizes ANGLE for its efforts in promoting an inclusive environment for LGBT officers and allies at CIA.

Out & Equal’s press. An estimated 10, gay men and women lost their jobs. And if she was outed at work, she could be dishonorably discharged. For decades, gay and lesbian intelligence officers had to keep their sexuality a secret.

Both women now faced a potentially career-ending decision. Tracey Ballard applied to join the Central Intelligence Agency in The last step in her months-long vetting was a polygraph exam. Ballard knew she was at risk. Gay men in particular were seen as vulnerable to blackmail, and prime targets for Soviet spy recruiters.

(Kenny Leahman) When Kenny Leahman interviewed for a CIA job inhe. The concept involved dispersing sex pheromones to induce mutual sexual attraction among enemy soldiers, with the intention of causing confusion and disrupting military cohesion. But her polygrapher posed the question in an unexpected way.

The scare was a witch hunt, and the embers were still smoldering 30 years later when Ballard was trying to renew her security clearance. Protests by a few civil servants willing to demand the policy be repealed sparked the gay civil rights movement.

Now Ballard was living with her female partner and raising a daughter. Ballard was worried the examiner this time might ask the question a different way. She told him about her partner, about their life together. Gay then, a year later, the agency rendered its verdict: She could keep her security clearance.

" Gay bomb " is an informal term referring to a proposed non-lethal psychochemical weapon that was speculated by the United States Air Force in the s. Well, that was easy. Retired CIA officer Kenny Leahman is opening up about his journey of coming out as a gay man in the intelligence agency.

Historian David K. InPresident Dwight Eisenhower signed an executive order directing federal agenices to investgiate employees who might pose security risks. Now, the CIA has an Intelligence Community Pride Network. On the morning of the polygraph, Ballard stopped her inquisitor before he asked the first question.

Two years later, it was time for Ballard to renew her clearance—and again face a polygrapher. Ballard knew that she might be asked about her sexuality.

Retired CIA officer opens

One officer says the agency is working on system updates for transgender officers. No, she replied. Her partner was on active duty in the military.