Memorandum from Carlisle H. Humelsine to James Webb

June 23, , 1950 TO: U - Mr. Webb FROM: A - Carlisle H. Humelsine SUBJECT: Problem of Homosexuals and Sex Perverts in the Department of State. Homosexuality, which is sexual attraction to a person of the same sex, is as old as the history of mankind. From time immemorial all races of man have had to deal with the subject. Some have condoned it and some have condemned it. Studies have been made which purport to relate the strong rise of homosexuality with the accompanying decline of the Egyptian, Greek and Roman Empires. Some experts hold that where the mores of a people have condoned homosexuality through apathy, the vigor and virility of that people have been emasculated, and that where the homosexuality of an individual has been established in a society where modesty demands concealment, the position of that individual has been weakened psychologically and sociologically. Many of the men who have studied homosexuality tell us that homosexuals are neurotic, characterized by emotional instability, that they represent a type of regression to man's primitive instincts and that they live a life of flight from their inversion and of fear of detection. They are content and at ease only when surrounded with other homosexuals. They meet at known homosexual gathering places, seek each other in cooktail lounges and public parks, and rarely live with anyone other than another homosexual. They come from all walks of life and all strata of society. They often disassociate themselves with their early childhood and family connections and endeavor to build a pseudo-cultural background around them. Many of them develop strong hate fixations which often colors and affects their thinking and behavior. These fixations may be on the mother, father, a brother or sister, or on all members of the opposite sex. Until very recent years the Department of State, as well as the several agencies of the Federal Government, tolerated homosexuals in its employment solely because not much was known about them or who they were. Occasionally when one was found he was dismissed or reassigned, depending upon the circumstances surrounding the individual case. It was the type of problem that most officers of the Federal Government, not conversant in the subject, would rather not consider. It therefore was allowed to exist and to grow. It was