Educational Criteria​

References

Public Domain & Copyright

          Washington D.C.
                    Investigation of Communist Activities in the State of California. Part 6: Hearing Before the Committee                     on Un-American Activities. 83rd Congress, Second Session, April 20, 1954.

Historical References

          Delaware
                    New Castle County Superior Court finds two men guilty of “sodomy,” but the judge lectures they are                     really not so much criminals as mentally ill.

          National
                    In response to public demonstrations, Senate hearings, and Frederic Wertham’s Seduction of the                     Innocent, most of the major comic companies form the COMICS CODE AUTHORITY in 1954 to                     regulate their content. According to the CCA Standards, “sex perversion of any inference to same is                     forbidden.”

President Dwight Eisenhower

          Utah
                    Clark speaks to the priesthood session and tells those in the congregation to avoid “that filthy crime                     of homosexuality.” His use of the word “crime” shows the expanding definition of homosexuality                     within Mormonism in the 1950s. Not only did Church leaders perceive homosexuality as a sin, but                     they began to speak of it as a crime and increasingly as a mental illness that could be cured.

History 1950-1959

          Louisiana
                    James Booker started his career in music and is described as "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie                     piano genius New Orleans has ever produced." Flamboyant in personality, he was known as "the                     Black Liberace"

United States LGBT History for 1954

 State equality and discrimination bills

          National
                    Robert Reed known most notably as Mr. Brady on the Brady Bunch was gay but kept this fact                     private, He feared news of his sexual orientation would damage his career. In July, Reed married                     fellow Northwestern student Marilyn Rosenberger. The couple had one daughter, Karen, before                     divorcing in 1959.

                    After his death, Reed's Brady Bunch co-stars most notably Barry Williams and Henderson publicly                     acknowledged Reed's sexual orientation and admitted that most of the cast and crew of The Brady                     Bunch were aware, but they did not discuss it with Reed. Williams said about Reed's homosexuality:                     "Robert didn't want to go there. I don't think he talked about it with anyone. I just don't think it was a                     discussion, period."