Reading Room Document

DCID 1/14 Adjudication Policy and Guidance-- Homosexuality as Basis for Denial of Access to SCI

This memo examined whether the government could lawfully deny access to sensitive compartmented information due to an individual’s homosexuality. It concluded that without a rational nexus between the denial and the protection of SCI, the government could not deny access based on homosexuality alone. However, it also found that the government could deny access in particular circumstances where an individual’s "homosexual" conduct provides a rational basis for the denial of access or results in criminal liability, which would provide another ground for denial.

January 2, 1979