Horny History: The Lavender Scare

It’s real history, as told by some dude in my inbox and me.

This post contains sensitive content on homophobia. Reader discretion is advised.

I’m finishing up my Pride Month Horny History with an overview of a period of time called The Lavender Scare. There’s so much to cover on this time period. Today’s Horny History will focus briefly on what The Lavender Scare was.

The Lavender Scare overlaps with the Red Scare, a period of intense fear of communism. In fact, due to select wording by McCarthy and his fellow Republicans, many people associated communism with homosexuality. They thought that communists were converting American youth to homosexuality.

To set the stage it’s after WWII, late 1940s. Women and men had been taken away from their traditional family roles to partake in war efforts, and not everyone wanted to go back to tradition. There’s a fear and a panic that American morals are fading. Homosexuals dare to exists.

Bye Jaydo!

A lot of my information came from one man in particular, an interview and a book by historian David K. Johnson. On top of that, there’s a PBS documentary on The Lavender Scare based on his book.

On that note, today’s “If you want to read about it” is:

The Lavender Scare by David K. Johnson

If you want to listen:

Queer America's interview with David K. Johnson