The lavender scare documents a chilling witch hunt. Knight and david hyde pierce, the lavender scare tells the littleknown story of an unrelenting. Finally, explain the impact of the lavender scare on the later gay rights movement. Although the worst effects of the lavender scare are far behind us, as recently as the early 1990s the state departments security office was investigating personnel thought to be gay. Johnson utilizes extensive interviews to demonstrate the way the purges changed the lives of victims and the social milieu of washington d. The lavender scare, produced and directed by josh howard, hits theaters june 7th. Gay men and lesbians were said to be national security risks and communist sympathizers. Narrated by glenn close and featuring the voices of cynthia nixon, zachary quinto, t. It was the subject of a 2017 documentary, and a key element of. The cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government is a heartwrenching reminder that homosexuals faced brutal employment discrimination and endless police hostility. While most federal organizations overturned their policies on lgbt. This activity is excellent for incorporating lgbt history into your cold war unit. The lavender scare is the first documentary film to tell the littleknown story of an unrelenting campaign by the federal government to identify and fire all employees suspected of being homosexual. The two books are complements in that the lavender scare.
The cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the. It triggers a vicious witch hunt that lasts for forty years and ruins. And perhaps just as importantly, this book is a cautionary tale, reminding us of how acts taken by the government in the name of national. In this book, johnson concludes that the lavender scare, as it became routinized in the bureaucracy of the national security state, outlasted its more wellknown cousin, the red scare. The lavender scare premieres tuesday, june 18, 2019 9. Senate, rg 46 the red scare, the congressional witchhunt. When i was a very young boy, the high point of every week was sunday. Although men of all kinds were arrested in the parks, the focus would come to land on men in sensitive government positions, and the idea that they might.
How antihomosexual policy created an antidemocratic rhetoric preprint pdf available june 2019 with 60 reads how we measure reads. The lavender scare had its origins in the antiqueer campaigns begun in the military immediately after wwii, and in an anticruising campaign begun in the washington d. You may have heard of the red scare of the 1950s the fear stoked by republican senator joseph mccarthy that communists had infested the federal government. In this episode, historian david johnson will explain the origins, unfolding and impact of this fearbased moral crusade. The lavender scare not only broke up and quieted the cities queer communities who were afraid of federal employment discrimination and potential hate crime, but it also resulted in a largely conservative, homogenous culture within the government. Edgar hoover, the fbi, and the sex deviates program. Mccarthyism, the lavender scare, and the fight for full. Describe the red scare and the lavender scare in the context of the cold war. Using recently declassified government files, congressional records, press reports, memoirs and interviews, johnson provides the fullest account. During the red scare, however, there was also another group that experienced mass discrimination within the government. The lavender scare was a moral panic about homosexual people in the united states government and their mass dismissal from government service. The cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government by david k. Accused state department employees would be interviewed for the purpose of acquiring information concerning others. Johnson for sharing audio files of his interviews with francis flanagan in 1996 and 1997.
The lavender scare shatters the myth that homosexuality has only. The lavender scare ruined the lives and careers of thousands of americans in the 1950s and kept millions more in a state of fear for years to come. Johnsons the lavender scare looks at the hidden side of the red scare, specifically the efforts by the us government to purge gay and lesbian employees. Hoovers fbi systematically collected information about gays since 1937, but when in 19501951, hoover decided to create his sex deviates program and. During the great depression and world war ii, many gays and lesbians left their rural communities in search of opportunities elsewhere, including in washington, d. In this clip from the lavender scare, an investigator discusses his role in exposing and firing homosexual employees. Following the lavender scare, gay and lesbian societies. Government jobs provided excellent pay and benefits, and in a city, people could build community. The lavender scare trailer due to covid19, the little is temporarily closed read our statement, consider becoming a member or donating, and check our blog for updates. Congressional investigations and the lavender scare. He demonstrates how, in the language of the 1950s, security risk became a virtual code word for homosexual. He begins with how the government and society forced its citizens into the closet, and leads up to the small victories for gay rights that happened after over fifty years of oppression, due in part to activist franklin kameny. Explain why the government feared that leftists and homosexuals threatened the security of the nation. The periodconsidered as targeted and as widespread as the concurrent red scare is now known as the lavender scare.
The lavender scare tuesday, june 18 at 9 woub public media. Johnsons fine work of social, cultural, and political analysis builds on earlier scholarship on the history of homosexuals and their subcultures by george chauncey, john demilio, allan berube, and others. In doing so, he incited decades of stigmatization against lgbtq employees in the federal workforce. The lavender scare the cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government if you are looking for the lavender scare the cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government, our library is free for you. But drawing on recently declassified government documents, as well as oral interviews with several of. People remember the persecution that those who were suspected of being affiliated with the communist party faced. Wherry concluded that no coordinated system existed to guarantee that the files of personnel separated for homosexuality were appropriately. We are a very small organization and we are unable to respond to individual requests for research assistance. Although not a wellknown period in history, the lavender scare has had a cultural afterlife. Johnson documents in his fine new book can initially strike a reader as amusing. The cold war persecution of gays and lesbian in the federal government chicago, 2004. In 1953, president eisenhower declared gay men and lesbians to be a threat to the security of the country and therefore unfit for government service. Stream tracks and playlists from the lavender scare on your desktop or mobile device. The untold story of the most vicious witch hunt in american history.
The lavender scare had detrimental effects on lesbians, such as the loss of jobs. Some us government officials connected the comintern an international communist organization with what they termed the homintern, which they saw as an international homosexual conspiracy linked with communists. Lavender scare reading lgbt and cold war history activity. The lavender scare was the product of a perfect storm of circumstances. The lavender scare tells a dark story, and does it solidly and movingly, but a documentary like this one can always use a hero and, in fact, the film has a. The homophobic fulmination of varoius mccarthyera senators and. We highly recommend the book the lavender scare by david k. Panic on the potomac diplomatic history oxford academic. Red scares, lavender scares, and the quest for equality. With the united states gripped in the panic of the cold war, president dwight d. That thousands of bureaucrats and officials saw their careers ruined merely for existing remains a shamefully underreported chapter in. Josh howards documentary the lavender scare chronicles the aftermath of president eisenhowers 1953 executive order banning gays and lesbians from working for the u. The cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government.
The socalled red scare was said to have been saturated with lavender. Relying on newly declassified documents, years of research in the. Mccarthyism, the lavender scare, and the fight for full lgbt equality not so very long ago, lgbtq people had no specified protections in any areas of their lives. The cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government 2004. The persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government. Johnson, author of the 2004 book the lavender scare and the historian to whom we owe the periods name, said, we should not forget that the lavender scare was a reaction to an earlier time of openness and visibility for the gay community. Pdf on aug 1, 2006, warren j blumenfeld and others published the lavender scare. Persecution of lesbianism during the cold war jessica toops the cold war era of the 1950s is often connected with the red scare and the idea that the spread of communism must be stopped no matter the cost. Congressional investigations and the lavender scare summer 2016, vol.
Relying on newly declassified documents, years of research in the records of the. Few people are aware that the mccarthyite red scare of the fifties was paralleled by a. Place the importance of the integration of the military and brown v. Rather, the lavender scare, which paralleled the red scare and was even energized by it, was a unique phenomenon that, as johnson points out, started before mccarthyism and long outlasted it. Eisenhower deems homosexuals to be security risks and orders the immediate firing of any government employee discovered to be gay or lesbian.
Marriage equality is an undeniably paramount step forward for human rights, but we have a long way to go to become truly equal, and the lavender scare is a must watch for everyone in todays political climate regardless of sexual orientation. In the lavender scare, josh howard outlines life for gay men and women from the 40s to today. The lavender scare shatters the myth that homosexuality has only recently become a national political issue, changing the way we think about both the mccarthy era and the origins of the gay rights movement. Fired 5,000 gays in 1953 witch hunt joan cassidy left active duty in the navy for fear of being outed as lesbian. The cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government, david k. The historian covers in detail one period of lgbt history that has been all but lost, yet, it was important in driving the events presented in making gay history far more than the. Such periods of progress are always subject to a backlash. With glenn close, david hyde pierce, cynthia nixon, zachary quinto. These people are frightened to death national archives. It contributed to and paralleled the anticommunist campaign known as mccarthyism and the second red scare. The lavender scare offers an arresting political narrative, but johnson also makes sure to present the very human face of this drama.
1510 811 16 1246 687 652 1200 789 912 714 1108 944 1478 839 386 1340 722 1135 821 1453 275 1339 446 643 1059 755 149 1201 265 785 541 317 897 100 424 42 1407 891 625 1315 745 1172