Apology Accepted: The Lavender Scare and the First White House Picket (1950–2009)

They fired thousands for who they loved, and the fired found each other on the sidewalk. Tonight: the Cold War purge history nearly forgot, the ten people who walked a silent circle at the White House on April 17, 1965, the attic where every picket sign waited fifty years, and the June morning in 2009 when the U.S. government finally said sorry, and one man answered, "Apology accepted."Told twice, as always: first at a natural pace, then slowly, with longer pauses, to carry you into sleep.Along the way: cherry blossoms on Pennsylvania Avenue, hand-lettered signs on wooden sticks, a coat held for a friend, and seventy thousand pieces of one stubborn life resting safe in the Library of Congress.☕ Restful Rainbow is independent and listener-supported: https://restful-rainbow.captivate.fm/supportRelated episodes: Frank Kameny: The Astronomer Who Reached for Justice · A Mystic Bond (ONE Magazine) · Quiet Courage (Daughters of Bilitis) · Barbara Gittings, The Librarian Who Changed the World