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The rights of queer individuals have been at the forefront of government debates for a while now. Because gay marriage was legalized in America in 2015, people in the United States now feel more comfortable coming out and being themselves. Although it is still not completely safe, it used to be even worse. Many countries all over the world have laws that prohibit homosexuality, but being gay started to become legal in the United States in 1961, when Illinois officially decriminalized sodomy, and “ended” with gay people being allowed (mostly) the same rights as straight people in 2015, when gay marriage was legalized. There were many dark periods in American history that led to these advancements, unfortunately, including the AIDS epidemic, the Stonewall Riots and the Lavender Scare. Most people appear to know the broad strokes of the AIDS epidemic (whether or not they know that it relates to LGBT people is a different story) and the Stonewall Riots, but not many people seem to know anything about the Lavender Scare. To understand the Lavender Scare, we
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must first understand the political climate of the time. Picture yourself in the 1950s. The Cold War is still going in full force, and Senator Joseph McCarthy just announced that Communists have infiltrated the government and are stealing topsecret information. This is terrifying in-and-ofitself, but then he uses this opportunity to tell you that, since being gay is frowned upon, any and all gay people that you know can be easily blackmailed into doing Russia’s bidding. Thus begins the Lavender Scare, a period where the illusion of keeping the government safe from enemy infiltration was used to fire, blacklist and persecute people who were even slightly suspected of being LGBT. It all commenced
