Lavender scare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. This article has been tagged since January 2007. |
The Lavender Scare refers to the fear and persecution of homosexuals in the fifties that paralleled the anti-communist Red Scare. Because the psychiatric community regarded homosexuality as a mental illness, gay men and lesbians were considered susceptible to blackmail, thus constituting a “security risk.” In 1950, the same year that Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed 205 communists were hiding in the State Department, the government fired 190 homosexual employees for security reasons.
Several causes for the Lavender Scare have been suggested, including the growing visibility of homosexuality, shifts in conspiracy thinking, a perceived crisis in American masculinity, and political efforts to root out New Deal conservatives.
The name for this persecution was termed by David K. Johnson in his book, "The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government", based on the association of the color lavender with homosexuality.
 |
This article about lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender issues is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
