Apparently the Department of Homeland Security needs to know

Scientists' sexual backgrounds or else the terrorists win...

(CBS) LOS ANGELES Twenty-eight senior scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging what they call the federal government's invasive background checks into their personal lives, including their sexual orientations.

At issue is a 2004 executive order signed by President Bush requiring federal agencies and facilities to institute an identification badge.

The plaintiffs -- all long-term California Institute of Technology employees -- allege the Bush administration is requiring them to consent to broad written waivers permitting investigators to obtain records from their past employment files.

Investigators will also be allowed to question the employees’ friends and associates about their emotional and financial well-being, as well as their sexual histories, according to Dan Stormer, one of their attorneys.

"They're being required to give up every personal record they have," Stormer said. "It's just a despicable incursion into constitutionally protected rights."