Background
The years after the end of World War II were some of the most socially repressive in US history. Postwar anti-communist feelings became quickly associated with personal secrets of people who worked for the US government. Congress began to require the registration of members of "subversive groups." In 1950, the State Department identified homosexuals as security risks, and what followed was a succession of more repressive acts that included multiple firings of personnel working for federal, state and local governments who were suspected of being homosexual, politically motivated police raids on gay bars all over the US and Canada, and the enacting of laws prohibiting cross-dressing for men and women.
Read more about this topic: Daughters Of Bilitis
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)