Military Career and Investigation, 1946-1970
Schlegel first entered U.S. military service in 1946 at the age of nineteen, serving in the Army Air Corps. After being selected as an officer candidate, Schlegel voluntarily resigned in 1947, claiming his “lack of self-confidence and self-esteem” barred him from becoming an officer before he was commissioned. With this, he received all of the standard benefits – an honorable discharge, awards, and ceremonies – associated with his eighteen-month enlistment. After returning home and completing his B.A. in Political Science at Penn State and his M.A. in Political Science and Public Administration at American University, Schlegel began work in the U.S. Federal Civil Aeronautics Administration as a civil servant from 1951 to 1955. After his four years there, Schlegel was offered a role as the chief of the budget division at the U.S. Federal Civil Aeronautics Administration, in Schoolcraft, Michigan. While this title came with a rise in rank, it came with months of ice and snow. After three harsh winters, Schlegel accepted a demotion and became a civilian employee for the U.S. Army Transportation Department, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. He worked in this role from 1958 until his removal in 1961.
Working in a civilian position for the Army during the Lavender Scare, Schlegel later recalled the extent to which anti-gay sentiment permeated public discourse: “It was headlines in the newspapers. We couldn’t miss it. I mean the nest, the hotbed of homosexuals and queers in the State Department. My god, they’ve giving away the country on a silver platter.” While Schlegel remained “terrified” about his own job, he received several promotions over the course of his career, a number of which required progressively higher clearance checks. But in 1959, investigators attempted to remove him from his position, alleging that a member of the military confessed to having had sexual relations with Schlegel. After months of investigation, Schlegel successfully defended himself and continued working as a civilian contractor for the U.S. Army Transportation Department. In 1961, however, when he sought top-secret security clearance, Army investigators discovered more about his sexuality. After an investigation revealed that Schlegel had had sexual relations with other male soldiers, had fraternized with gay friends, and had attended a gay party, the Army removed Schlegel for “immoral and indecent conduct.”
With limited legal protections for gay civilian employees in the Army, Schlegel pursued his wrongful termination appeal through the courts, challenging the government’s charge of “immoral and indecent conduct” as unconstitutionally vague. Throughout the proceedings, Schlegel remained remarkably forthright about his sexual orientation. He never denied that he was gay and insisted that his private sexual acts had not affected his ability to do his job. Although a seven-judge panel ruled against him in 1963, Schlegel continued his fight, petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court in 1970. While the Court declined to hear the case, Schlegel v. The United States remains an early landmark in the American gay rights movement, reflecting Schlegel’s determination to challenge discrimination and paving the way for subsequent legal battles for LGBTQ+ rights.
The following documents document Schlegel’s military career and the two investigations undertaken about his sexual activities. Before sharing these materials with historian Marc Stein in the 1990s, he penned in red ink his reactions and reflections in the margins of some of the texts. Addressing the first attempt to remove him from the Army, for example, he wrote:
“As I look upon this now - 34 years later - I think what a wasted three months of my life. The cost to the US taxpayer in wasted manpower was enormous; my out-of-pocket costs were a thousand or so, which would translate to today into $10,000. Plus, my career was ruined. I was then just 32 & maybe could have contributed a beneficial order or two in the next 30 years. Sic semper tyrannis [thus always to tyrants].”