GAY ENGINEER SUES CIA OVER DENIAL OF CLEARANCE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000202360013-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: November 15, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/06: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202360013-6
LOS ANGELES HERALD-EXAMINA)
15 November 1983
Gay en~c~~~r
sups CIA
over d~niaI
of clearance
By Meg Spratt
Herald staff:writer
For 10 .years, said 50-year-old John
Green, a -conservative Republican.aero-;",
space .engineer,':he worked on;classified
CIA projects for TRW Electronics De-_
changed.. After.discovering' Green was:a
homosexual,;the CIA revoked his secur-
ity clearance and with.it,.Greensaid', his,
After appeals to the agency failed,
Green launched what may be a land-
mark gay rights case, announcing yes- John Green
terday he has filed a lawsuit against. the "l thought they knew all about ,me."
CIA to regain his clearance.
Green and his attorney, John McDer- in such (homosexual) activities from]
mott, told reporters they want to stop both your employer and the agency.
the CIA ..from :denying security to "Homosexual activity, in our view, j
workers in private industry based on could make you susceptible to blackmail
what they believe-is simply their sexual or coercion,"; the letter continued.
orientation. ."Likewise, your exploitable personal
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, ,conduct casts serious doubt upon your
contends that CIA officials have violated,- qualifications to be entrusted with the
Green's constitutional rights to privacy, protection of Sensitive Compartmented
to due process and equal protection, and -;,:Information."
,
to freedom' of expression. Green said,"I thought they knew all
By revoking Green's security clear- ,about me. Quite frankly, I think their;
ante, McDermott said, the CIA sends a investigation, processes are extremely.,
message that homosexuals are "unsta inept."
ble, crazy people who can't be trusted And, when the CIA did find out, "I
with sensitive information." was in big-trouble," Green said.
"All I want; Is -my clearance back," Green claims that not only-have CIA
added Green.;"We're All Americans. I officials violated his constitutional
just happen to be: gay." rights, they also "by interpretation"of
But the CIA -doesn't see it that -way. their own. rules are making security
When Green's roommate :applied `for a risks"
security "clearance, a CIA investigator The agency's policies, Green con-
,,interviewed Green and subsequently tends, encourage homosexuals to keep
discovered. the two were. involved in-a their sexual preferences secret, :thus
homosexual'i?elationship. making them prime targets for black-
Though Green says he always has mail.
been honest about his sexual preference Spokesmen from both TRW and the
and even listed his membership with a CIA said they could not comment on the
local 'gay ski club on security access lawsuit while it is in litigation.
forms, the agency accused him of Meanwhile, Green continues to work
covering up his homosexuality and re- at TRW's Redondo Beach headquarters,
voked his clearance almost immediately. but in a job he says is dead-end.
In a letter to Green signed by CIA "There's obviously something wrong
Director of Security William R. Kotap- here," said Green. "If I had stayed in the
ish, the aerospace engineer was told, "It closet I'd be a department manager
appears that you hid your participation right. now."
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/06: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202360013-6