Local
‘Archive Activism’ reveals efforts to recover hidden LGBTQ gov’t documents
Memoir by Charles Francis highlights ‘secrets’ held at LBJ Presidential Library
A newly released book called “Archive Activism: Memoir Of A ‘Uniquely Nasty’ Journey” describes the efforts by author Charles Francis and his supporters to uncover long hidden documents, among other things, revealing how LGBTQ federal workers were forced out of their jobs in the 1950s and 1960s.
Francis, a former public relations consultant and longtime Washington insider, co-founded in 2011 a repurposed Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C. as an advocacy group to uncover LGBTQ-related historical and archival documents while advocating for LGBTQ equality.
The original Mattachine Society of Washington was co-founded by pioneer D.C. gay rights advocate Frank Kameny in the early 1960s as D.C.’s first gay rights organization to become politically active and engage in gay rights protests.
Francis points out that the title of his book is taken, in part, from a 1964 document in which an attorney for the then U.S. Civil Service Commission named John Steele defended the longstanding policy of not allowing LGBTQ people to work for the government.
“What it boils down to is that most men look upon homosexuality as something ‘uniquely nasty,’ not just a form of immorality,” Steele states in the document.
“Archive Activism is the story of recovering forgotten, sealed – often deleted – LGBTQ history and using it to fight for equality and social justice at a time of historic erasure, book bans, and political assault,” Francis told the Washington Blade. “This is not a bland text about ‘LGBTQ history month,’” he said.
“It is about protecting ourselves, our families and political gains by understanding the shoulders we stand upon through original archival research,” he said in a statement. “A gay, ex-Republican raised in Texas in the ‘50s and ‘60s, I was awakened by the power of our history, our gay and lesbian legacy and the fight to save American democracy,” he said.
Francis’s book covers his early years in Washington working for nationally known public relations executive and Republican Party advocate Bob Gray, his efforts to help elect former Texas Gov. George W. Bush as U.S. president in the 2000 presidential election, and his subsequent disillusionment with Bush after Bush became an outspoken advocate for a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
The book also tells how Francis in 2000 formed the Republican Unity Coalition, an LGBTQ supportive group that called on the Republican Party to make homosexuality a “non-issue” for the GOP. In a development that surprised many GOP officials, then U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), former president Gerald Ford, and Mary Cheney, daughter of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, signed on as members of the RUC group.
Francis describes in the book his early archive activism efforts that included co-founding the Kameny Papers Project, which arranged for the Library of Congress to acquire the voluminous collection of the documents of Frank Kameny. The Mattachine Society of Washington also arranged for the Library of Congress to acquire the papers and documentary films produced by D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate Lilli Vincenz.
A statement released by the book’s publisher, University of North Texas Press, says the book breaks ground in uncovering LGBTQ-related documents generated under President Lyndon Johnson.
“For the first time, ‘Archive Activism’ reveals how LGBTQ secrets were held for decades at the LBJ Presidential Library in the papers of President Johnson’s personal secretary, sealed until her death at age 105,” the statement says.
Francis and Mattachine Society of Washington co-founder Pate Felts went to Texas in 2016 to work with LBJ Library officials to find LGBTQ-related documents, including those showing that Johnson quietly fired a longtime Johnson family friend and White House staffer named Robert “Bob” Waldron after learning that Waldron had “engaged in homosexual acts,” according to one of the documents.
“‘Archive Activism’ is a rescue mission for primary archival materials located in archives and libraries, large and small, worldwide,” Francis says in the book. “It is a preservation-minded movement to recover and protect historical queer memory,” he writes. “Archive Activism is a populist mission to recover the erased past and to document the government animus that continues to course through LGBTQ political and policy history.”
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Maryland
Evan Glass is leaning on his record. Is that enough for Montgomery County’s top job?
Gay county executive candidate pushing for equitable pay, safer streets, and cleaner environment
By TALIA RICHMAN | During a meet-and-greet at Poolesville Memorial United Methodist Church, Evan Glass got his loudest applause of the night with a plan he acknowledged was decidedly unsexy.
“Day one, I’ll hire a director of permitting services,” the county executive candidate said.
Doing so, he added, is a step toward easing the regulatory burdens that can stifle small businesses in Montgomery County.
The only problem? At least one of his fiercest competitors is making a similar pledge.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
D.C. bar, LGBTQ+ Community Center to mark Lesbian Visibility Week
‘Ahead of the Curve’ documentary screening, ‘Queeroke’ among events
2026 Lesbian Visibility Week North America will take place from April 20-26.
This year marks the third annual Lesbian Visibility Week, run by the Curve Foundation. A host of events take place from April 20-26.
This year’s theme is Health and Wellness. For the Curve Foundation, the term “lesbian” serves as an umbrella term for a host of identities, including lesbians, bisexual and transgender women, and anyone else connected to the lesbian community.
The week kicks off with a flag-raising ceremony on April 19. It will take place in New York, but will be livestreamed for the public.
“Queeroke” is one of the events being held around the country. It will take place at various participating bars on April 23.
As You Are, an LGBTQ bar in Capitol Hill, is one of eight locations across the U.S. participating. Their event is free and 21+.
On April 24, the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center will hold a screening of “Ahead of the Curve,” a documentary about the founder of Curve, Franco Stevens. The event is free with an RSVP.
April 25, is Queer Women in Sports Day. And on April 26, several monuments in New York will be illuminated.
Virtual events ranging from health to sports will be made available to the public. Details will be released closer to the start of Lesbian Visibility Week. Featured events can be found on the official website.
Some ways for individuals to get involved are to use #LVW26 and tag the official Lesbian Visibility Week account on social media posts. People are encouraged to display their lesbian flags, and businesses can hand out pins and decorate. They can also reach out to local lawmakers to encourage them to issue an official Lesbian Visibility Week.
District of Columbia
Whitman-Walker Health to present ‘Pro Bono Excellence’ award to law firm
Health center set to celebrate 40th anniversary of legal services program
Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, announced it will present its annual Dale Edwin Sanders Award for Pro Bono Excellence to the international law firm McDermott Will & Schulte at a May 6 ceremony.
“This year’s award is especially significant as it coincides with the 40th anniversary of Whitman-Walker Health’s Legal Services Program, marking it as the nation’s longest running medical-legal partnership,” a statement released by Whitman-Walker says.
“As a national leader in public health, Whitman-Walker celebrates our partnership with McDermott to strengthen the health center and to enable Whitman-Walker to reach more medical and legal clients,” the statement adds.
“McDermott’s firm-wide commitment to Whitman-Walker’s medical-legal partnership demonstrates a shared vision to serve those most in need,” Amy Nelson, Whitman-Walker’s director of Legal Services, says in the statement. “Our work protects individuals and families who face discrimination and hostility as they navigate increasingly complex administrative systems,” Nelson said.
“Pro bono legal services – like that of McDermott Will & Schulte – find solutions for people who have no place else to turn in the face of financial and health threats,” she added.
“Our partnership with Whitman-Walker Health is a treasured commitment to serving our neighbors and communities,” Steven Schnelle, one of the law firm’s partners said in the statement. “We are deeply moved by Whitman-Walker’s unwavering dedication to inclusion, respect, and equitable access to health care and social services,” he said.
The statement notes that the award for Pro Bono Excellence honors the legacy of the late gay attorney Dale Edwin Sanders. It says Sanders’s pro bono legal work for Whitman-Walker clients “shaped HIV/AIDS law for more than four decades by securing key victories on behalf of individuals whose employment and patient rights were violated.”
It says the Whitman-Walker Legal Services program began during the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s at a time when people with AIDS faced widespread discrimination and often needed legal assistance. According to the statement, the program evolved over the years and expanded to advocate for transgender people and immigrants.
Whitman-Walker spokesperson Lisa Amore said the presentation of the Dale Edwin Sanders Pro Bono Excellency Award will be held at the May 6 fundraising benefit for Whitman-Walker’s Legal Services Program. She said the event will take place at the offices of the DC law firm Baker McKenzie and ticket availability can be accessed here: https://www.whitman-walker.org/gtem-2026/
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