Intro

The last living member of one of the darkest moments in Florida state history is still legislating on a national level today. Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-FL-10) is the last living member of the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee. Better know as the Johns Committee, the Committee was based on the notorious McCarthy Panel and functioned as a State-sponsored, fear-driven hate group that investigated and persecuted homosexuals in the 1950s and 60s. Led by, FL State Senator Charley Eugene Johns, then State Senator Bill Young served on the Committee in Tallahassee from 1962-65, until its funding was cut. Young was an active member of this disgraceful time in Florida state politics. In 1964, the Committee published and distributed a notorious report entitled, Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida and widely known as the Purple Pamphlet. While the Committees records were sealed until 2038 but opened 1993, the Purple Pamphlet and photographic evidence are still in circulation. To this date, not one member of the Committee has publicly apologized or been held responsible for the hundreds of teachers, administrators and students who were fired, expelled or intimidated as a result of the Committees purges. Johns Committee Activity The Johns Committee was formed in 1956 with the intent to investigate and eliminate Communists in State agencies. By 1957 the committee reported that it believed the Communist party had infiltrated the NAACP. It requested the NAACPs member lists, which led to a two-year legal battle. When, in 1957, the US Supreme Court denied the committees request, the Committee turned focus to the subversive homosexual community. This began a 7-year purge of FSU, USF, UF and other state organizations. In 1959 the Johns Committee claimed its first victims when they forced 16 faculty and staff from the University of Florida. The Committee hired former FBI agent, William Tanner, to act as FSU security guard to search for and weed out suspected homosexuals at the University. To entrap suspected homosexuals, he would throw lavish parties and have informants secretly tape participants. "It was, I've got a party I'd like you to attend, or I'd like you to go out and do a little trolling," Chief William Tanner said in a 1991 interview with The Miami Herald. After the party, the participants would be interrogated and either expelled or fired. Similarly, other informants were employed to compile lists of names to be available to other statewide organizations. Johns Committee informants were often gays and lesbians who were coerced into collusion by threat of public exposure or reduced criminal sentences on other charges. These informants were used to lure unsuspecting individuals to locations where, once exposed, they would be photographed and that evidence would be used against them.

These methods were so successful that a climate of fear grew over the campuses of the then 3 state universities, University of Florida, Florida State University and the newly created University of South Florida. This fear caused one gay professor with a 27-year tenure to purchase and consume a lethal dose of aspirin after losing his position. He survived his suicide attempt and came forward to tell his story in 1991. Publications The Committee published pamphlet titled Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida is also referred to as the Purple Pamphlet because of the color of its cover and in reference to the Lavender Menace. The detailed report intended to scare and incite the public and intimidate and harm homosexuals. "Our report tried to show it (homo-sexuality) in its true light - it's a very repulsive subject," Young said in 1964 on the release of the Purple Pamphlet. The brash and hateful report included explicit photos of men in bondage and child pornography. The scathing report begins with description of the problem homosexuality poses for society and continues with estimates of the homosexual population, a view into gay society, anecdotes of propaganda based in fear instead of science or fact and the final title What to do About Homosexuality. A glossary of terms and descriptions used of and by homosexuals is included in the appendix and for the times could be considered anything but obscene. The pamphlet was distributed to the public for 25 cents until the outrage over its contents forced the committee to end circulation. While, the committee had relied on the publics support or blind eye to do their dirty work in Floridas universities, the pamphlet went to far. The public saw the pamphlet as obscene and the media called in state-sponsored pornography. Lawmakers abruptly discontinued funding. Despite Sen. Johns quitting the Committee, Young and four other members continued the work of the Committee. In 1965 they published a report titled, Racial and Civil Disorders in St. Augustine. Youngs wandering statements and involvement C.W. Bill Young officially served on the Florida Legislative Investigative Committee or Johns Committee from 1962 to 1965. His involvement in the committee and its mission can clearly be seen in the photographs of the Committees hearings and meetings, his contributions to the Committees reports and in his public statements while the committee was active. "This indicates how bold the homosexual is becoming and further proves the necessity of state government taking the lead in responsibility for preventing these confirmed homosexuals from preying on the youth of the state," Young said when asked about the distribution of the Purple Pamphlet as pornography in 1964.

Yet, when questioned 30 years after the dissolution of the committee, Young attempts to downplay his involvement. "I was not a major part of that committee," Young said in 1993, after the records had been unsealed, when asked about his involvement. "I came on the committee in its closing days." The truth is that Young served at the height of the Johns Committee during its most active assault on homosexuals. In the three years prior to Young joining the Committee, 16 educators were removed. However, during his tenure that number rose to 110 with at least 200 250 educators and students questioned and shamed and blackmailed. Continued pattern of hate Voted in Support of the Defense of Marriage Act In 2011, Young voted to support the Defense of Marriage Act. The amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill banned the use of any funds to be used in violation of the Defense of Marriage Act. This vote was largely symbolic and was intended to show support for the Defense of Marriage Act according to the author of the amendment. [Los Angeles Times, 7/09/11; The Hill, 7/07/11] The amendment passed 248-175. [HR 2219, Vote #516, 7/07/11] Voted to Delay the Repeal of Dont Ask, Dont Tell In 2011, Young voted to delay the repeal of Dont Ask, Dont Tell. The FY2012 Defense Authorization bill contained a number of policy riders including one which changed the process for the repeal of Dont Ask, Dont Tell which bans homosexuals from serving openly in the military. Under the rider, which was included in the bill, the repeal would be delayed until the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine chiefs could certify that the repeal wouldnt harm their units readiness, effectiveness, cohesion, and morale. [Wall Street Journal Blog-Washington Wire, 5/12/11; CQ BillAnalysis HR 1540, 7/04/11] The bill passed 322-96. [HR 1540, Vote #375, 5/26/11] Voted Against Repealing Dont Ask, Dont Tell Policy In 2010, Young voted against repealing the militarys dont ask, dont tell policy, prohibiting military service by openly gay men and women. The measure would require a submission signed by the president, secretary of Defense, and the

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that repeal is consistent with military readiness and effectiveness. The vote was the first time the House backed repealing the ban as a stand-alone measure; previously it passed as part of the fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that repeal would not hurt military readiness and had urged lawmakers to repeal. They cited a Pentagon survey taken in 2010 that found 70 percent of military personnel surveyed believed a change in the law would have either a positive, mixed or no effect. [CQ Today, 12/15/10] The New York Times opined that repealing the policy would not harm military readiness. Indeed, there is a wealth of evidence that the policy is actually harming military readiness by forcing out of the service people who have critical skills in interpretation, battlefield medicine, counterterrorism and other vital subjects. [New York Times, Editorial, 11/18/10] The bill passed, 250-175. [HR 2965, Vote #638, 12/15/10] Opposed Expanding Federal Hate Crime Law In 2009, Young voted against expand federal hate crime law to cover offenses based on a victims sexual orientation or gender identity. In addition the bill would also cover crimes based on a victims physical or mental disability. At the time of the bill passage, the law only covered the use of threat or force based on race, color, religion or national origin. [CQ Weekly, 5/04/09] The bill passed 249-175. [HR 1913, Vote #223, 4/29/09] Supported Constitutional Amendment on Gay Marriage In 2006, Young voted in favor of a proposed amendment to the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. [CQ Floor Votes, 7/18/06] The amendment, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, was defeated 236- 187. [HJR 88, Vote #378, 7/18/06] Background Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida Florida Legislative Investigative Committee Sen. Charley Johns, Sen. Robert Williams, Sen. C.W. Bill Young, Rep. Leo Jones, Rep. Richard Mitchell, Rep. William Owens, Rep. George Stallings, Jr., Tallahassee, FL, January 1964 Racial and Civil Disorders in St. Augustine;

Report of the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee R O Mitchell (Editor), George B Stallings (Introduction), Leo C Jones (Introduction), C W Young (Preface),William E Owens (Preface) Tallahassee, FL, February, 1965 Florida's secret shame for nine years - It was state policy to ferret out homosexuals and drive them from our college campuses. For some reason, state officials don't want you to know about it. Ellen McGarrahan, The Miami Herald (FL), December 8, 1991 Freedom Rights: New Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement Edited by Danielle McGuire, University Press of Kentucky, Nov 1, 2011 Congressman says little about involvement David Barstow, St. Petersburg Times (FL), July 2, 1993, Friday, City Edition Files to open on gay, communist hunts Curt Anderson, Ocala Star-Banner (FL), July 1, 1993