lavender scare
Cold War persecution
The lavender scare was the systematic persecution and firing of gay men and lesbians from U.S. government jobs during the 1950s, running parallel to the Red Scare's anti-communist purges.
Officials claimed homosexuals posed security risks because they could be blackmailed.
The term references lavender's longstanding association with homosexuality: The lavender scare destroyed thousands of careers.
- State DepartmentFederal foreign affairs office
- homophobiaPrejudice against same-sex attraction
- Cold WarProlonged East-West standoff
- national security threatRisk to homeland defense
- blacklistingFormally marking for rejection
LGBTQ+ rights · executive order · perverts · discrimination · moral turpitude · moral character · stigma · loyalty oaths · scapegoating · Stonewall riots · moral panic · employment discrimination · pink slip · witch hunts · civil rights movement · queer activism · surveillance state · civil service
- LGBTQ historyStonewall riots, gay liberation, Harvey Milk, pride movement, gay rights movement
lavender scaregay rights movement
Organized push for homosexual equality
gay pride · coming out · gay liberation · rainbow capitalism
scare, scary, scared, lavender, scares, lavenders, lavender oil, Red Scare