Photo by Victoria Pickering.

For the second year in a row, the CIA set up a booth at the D.C. Pride festival last weekend to recruit potential hires from the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities.

The Washington Blade has the scoop:

CIA employees staffing the booth, who identified themselves by their first name, said they were members of the Agency Network of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Employees (ANGLE), an officially recognized CIA employee group that helped to prepare the brochure.

The brochure and the employees staffing the booth said past restrictions against granting a security clearance for gays have long since been dropped as a result of an executive order issued by President Bill Clinton prohibiting discrimination in clearances based on sexual orientation.

The brochure, which is online, begins, “You have something unique to offer. Your intelligence.” It explains that the agency “does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation” and does not require the disclosure of an applicant’s sexual orientation.

ANGLE, whose members were present at the festival, was created in 1996 and formally recognized in 1999, according to a New York Times article from 2000. “In the 1950’s, gay employees were routed from sensitive positions in various federal agencies, including the State Department and the National Security Agency, because they were presumed to be security risks,” the article noted. “In 1991, the C.I.A. decided that sexual orientation could be taken into account when making hiring decisions, but did not automatically rule out hiring gays.”

This was not the first time the CIA had been present at the festival. The agency set up a booth for the first time last year, which was also the first time Pride had been held since Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed.

Reactions on Twitter to the CIA’s booth varied.

Filed Under: CIA, dc pride festival, pride parade,