Dr. Harris Dousemetzis shares the extraordinary impact of U.S. President Jimmy Carter on gay rights in the 1970s and early 1980s, from instituting policies to prevent anti-gay discrimination of most federal employees to facilitating IRS nonprofit status for gay rights organizations and community centers, enabling them to receive federal funding for educational materials and health clinics, among other things. While Carter’s actions were unprecedented and pivotal, Dousemetzis also describes how they created a strong backlash among Evangelicals opposed to gay rights.

Dr. Dousemetzis is a lecturer at the University of Sunderland and a tutor at Durham University, UK, and author of The Carter Presidency and Gay Rights: The Revolution that Dared Not Speak Its Name.

Related Resources:

The Carter Presidency and Gay Rights: The Revolution that Dared Not Speak Its Name

Related Collections:

Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO Council: Tom Turner Records (LR000053)

UAW Washington Office: Stephen Schlossberg Records (LR001219)

Episode Credits

Interviewee: Harris Dousemetzis

Producers: Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English

Music: Bart Bealmear