John D. Rawls Papers

The bulk of the collection contains materials documenting the work Rawls did for a lesbian client discharged from the United States Navy because of her sexual orientation. These materials includes legal research and citations (circa 1990-1993) for court cases dating from 1842 to 1993; non-legal research (circa 1984-1990) on gays in the military, sexual orientation, and the budgetary considerations of separating gays and lesbians from military service; freedom of information requests, as well as briefs and legal memoranda; and correspondence with military and government officials (1990-1992). Rawls redacted the name of his client throughout these files prior to his donation to the Amistad Research Center.

Additional files include a transcript of a radio debate between Rawls and Rev. Lou Sheldon on the topic of same sex marriage that took place on WODT, June 14, 1996; issues of The Electorate (newsletter of the Louisiana Electorate of Gays and Lesbians), vol. 1-3; song lyrics to "Equal Justice for All" by John D. Rawls, 1993; a copy of Louisiana Executive Order 92-7 barring discrimination of state agencies/departments for sexual orientation, 1992. Also present is a large folder of Rawls’ correspondence dating from 1993 to 1995 relating to his support and campaigning on behalf of various political officials in Louisiana, as well as a folder pertaining to a 1994 court case involving a contested seat on the New Orleans city council between Jackie Clarkson and Troy Carter. Additional items include publications and government documents, some pertaining to Joseph C. Steffan v. Dick Cheney, Sec. of Defense.