Visa Application File for Alfons Zinkower
1947
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This case file of of Alfons Zinkower, who was seeking entry to the United States, includes the allegation of him being gay based on another person's claim.
From about 1917 to until 2003, being or acting as queer and gender nonconforming was put into the category of crimes of moral turpitude because it was believed to be a perverse behavior, a criminal act, and for some time, an illness. If you were a queer or gender nonconforming person, you could not have good moral character. Simply put, queer persons were unfit to be American citizens.
To be openly queer meant the person was identified officially as a “Constitutional Psychotic Inferior,” or “CPI.” In the late 1940s, being a CPI was equivalent to having a mental illness, like schizophrenia. To some, homosexuality was believed to be a communicable disease like something that could be spread among an otherwise healthy heterosexual population.
In the case of Alfons Zinkower, who was seeking entry to the United States, the allegation of him being gay was based on one person making a claim. His case investigators took the claim seriously and interviewed friends, acquaintances, and associates to ascertain evidence of the allegation. Questions arose over where he spent his leisure time, if he associated with other homosexuals, or if he had relationships with them. The goal was to find some “indication” of his homosexuality, though it isn’t concretely defined in his records.
From about 1917 to until 2003, being or acting as queer and gender nonconforming was put into the category of crimes of moral turpitude because it was believed to be a perverse behavior, a criminal act, and for some time, an illness. If you were a queer or gender nonconforming person, you could not have good moral character. Simply put, queer persons were unfit to be American citizens.
To be openly queer meant the person was identified officially as a “Constitutional Psychotic Inferior,” or “CPI.” In the late 1940s, being a CPI was equivalent to having a mental illness, like schizophrenia. To some, homosexuality was believed to be a communicable disease like something that could be spread among an otherwise healthy heterosexual population.
In the case of Alfons Zinkower, who was seeking entry to the United States, the allegation of him being gay was based on one person making a claim. His case investigators took the claim seriously and interviewed friends, acquaintances, and associates to ascertain evidence of the allegation. Questions arose over where he spent his leisure time, if he associated with other homosexuals, or if he had relationships with them. The goal was to find some “indication” of his homosexuality, though it isn’t concretely defined in his records.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State.
National Archives Identifier: 12028958
Full Citation: Visa Application File for Alfons Zinkower; 1947; “XYZ”; Classified Visa Files, 1946 - 1951; Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State, Record Group 84; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/visa-application-file-for-alfons-zinkower, March 25, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.