I'm not sure where else to put this, but if there is another circle better suited for this, please let me know.

Most Americans have (or maybe I'm naively assuming this is still common knowledge) heard of the Red Scare. Senator McCarthy and his government witch hunts to root out "communism" in America. What many people don't know is that Red Scare was the second. We had a first one in the early 20th century as a reaction to the Russian Revolution and overthrow of the monarchy. The Second Red Scare was a reaction to the growing power of the Soviet Union.

Even less people know that there was a Lavender Scare during the Second Red Scare, specifically targeting homosexuals in government positions.

Homosexuals were seen as deviants, and easily manipulated. We were thought to be "communist sympathizers" and therefore, a risk to national security, and many demanded we lose our jobs.

The origin of the phrase "Lavender Scare" is modern, popularized in 2004 by David K. Johnson, who studied the homophobic phenomena, but the term "lavender" to refer to homosexuals is not. A Senator of the day, Everett Dirksen, referred to gay men as "lavender lads", and even outright stating that his election to office would see the removal of such "lavender lads" from the government.

According to Wikipedia, "the phrase was also used by Confidential magazine, a periodical known for gossiping about the sexuality of politicians and prominent Hollywood stars."

And then of course, you may know about the lesbian organization, Lavender Menace. "Lavender menace" began as a negative term within the feminist movement for women associated with lesbianism. Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique and President of NOW in 1969, used it because she thought lesbians were a threat to the women's movement. "Lavender menace" was an allusion to "Red Menace".

Homosexuals, since at least the 19th century, were always categorized as "unfit", "criminally insane", and "morally depraved". The State Department developed a list of criteria with which to measure the state of its employees. "Disloyal" persons included communists and their associates, those guilty of espionage, and people known for "habitual drunkenness, sexual perversion, moral turpitude, financial irresponsibility or criminal record".

Per Wikipedia: "The language of the Lavender Scare was purposely vague as instead of being referred to directly, homosexuals and perverts were often called "moral weaklings," "sexual misfits," "moral risks," "misfits," "undesirables," or persons with "unusual morals." Terms also used included "security risk", "loyalty risk", and my favorite, "subversives".

With such vague criteria, the government had the power to fire anyone at will for any or no reason, much like at-will employment in the US here today. Meanwhile, the military was conducting psychiatric screenings on recruits due to the belief that homosexuality was a viable mental illness.

The systemic removal of homosexuals from the government and military was helped in no small part by guilt-by-association tactics.

Homosexuals were seen as a threat to traditional gender roles, the nuclear family, and heterosexuality. We were thought to be "psychologically disturbed" and "morally weak". People had their reputations dragged through the mud and lost their livelihoods when they were publicly accused (often without any kind of proof) of being gay or lesbian.

"Due to the image of the State Department now being tainted with homosexuality, many male employees became self-conscious about the possibility of being perceived as homosexual."

This makes me wonder if that's where the "no homo" culture we make fun of now started, because, at least before the 20th century, men were much more affectionate to each other - yes, even in the West - than they are now. Eisenhower's Executive Order 10450 made it even worse.

"Truman's loyalty program had been extended through this executive order: "sexual perversion" was added to a list of behaviors that would keep a person from holding a position in government. There were many new regulations and policies put into place to detect and remove gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. The new procedures to search out homosexuals were frequently used to interview and look for signs of sexual orientation. They also looked at places these individuals frequently visited, such as gay bars, and they even found people guilty by association. If their friends or family showed signs of being homosexual, they might also be suspected."

I'd really like to know how you test for homosexuality, because I bet the criteria would be laughable if it wasn't used to destroy people's lives.

Oh, fun fact. Men would pretend to be gay to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. Because being gay is only OK if you're using it to get out of something. These investigations went on until the 1990s by the way, and in Canada, too. Canada even developed the "fruit machine" to test for homosexuality in men.

I sometimes think of the parallels between the Lavender Scare and the modern day "trans" movement, and I wonder:

What is the difference between the government demanding I lose my job for being a homosexual and a trans activist demand I lose my job for be a "TERF" (homosexual)?

What is the difference between being called "morally weak" and a "sexual deviant" by conservatives and being called a "genital fetishist" by trans activists who constantly imply, if not outright state, that I am "morally weak"?

What's the difference between the government's tests for homosexuality and trans activists tests for "TERFs"?

What;s the difference between men pretending to be gay to get out of the draft and young people pretending to be "LGBTQ" to get out of being seen as straight or "cis"?

What's the difference between McCarthy's blacklists of "subversives" and modern trans activists blacklists of "TERFs"?

What's the difference between McCarthy era bureaucrats interrogating possible homosexual employees and trans activists interrogating possible "TERFs"?

I'd really, really like to know.

"It has also been suggested that contemporary attitudes towards LGBT people in America have been shaped by the Lavender Scare. The 'Pervert Elimination Campaign' and the criminalization of gay men existing in public spaces demonstrates how attitudes towards LGBT people during the Lavender Scare shifted towards intolerance in public spaces. Brandon Andrew Robinson has suggested that this criminalization of LGBT people in public spaces has impacted how LGBT people now exist within America. He says that acceptance of LGBT people depends on their ability to assimilate as far as possible into American 'heteronormative institutions', in part due to the intolerant attitudes that developed towards LGBT people within public life during the years of the Lavender Scare."

No. It was not "LGBT". It was HOMOSEXUALS targeted by the Lavender Scare. The Lavender Scare influenced everyone's attitudes on HOMOSEXUALS, including "trans" people, who often seem to hate us MORE than regular old conservative straights.

I don't want "trans" people to think for a second that the Lavender Scare had anything to do with you. It didn't. You were among the ugly, sniveling little assholes hounding us out of our jobs and forcing us into heteronormative institutions back then, just like you are now.