LGBT History Project: LGBT-105 Richard Schlegel Historical Marker Collection
Number of Pages
2
Date
2020-2022
Richard Lamar Schlegel was born in 1927 in Berrysburg, PA, a small borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. In 1949, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he pursued a master’s degree and later took a job in the federal government. His career ended in 1961 when he was fired for “immoral and indecent conduct” after being followed by secret investigators who investigated his personal life. Schlegel appealed his case, Schlegel vs. the United States, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court but was refused a hearing. LGBTQ+ activists and community members have repeatedly attempted to get Schlegel the recognition he deserves as a LGBTQ+ rights pioneer. In 2020, Schlegel was nominated for a Historical Marker in Pennsylvania to mark the historic event of Schlegel taking his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The marker was approved and installed in Harrisburg near the Pennsylvania capitol, outside Schlegel’s former home, in October 2021. After receiving complaints, chiefly from State Senator John DiSanto, the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission voted to remove the marker on June 1, 2022, less than a year after its placement.
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LGBT-105 Richard Schlegel Historical Marker Collection
