The Fear of Lavender: How the Federal Government Eliminated Gay Employees

You may have heard about the "red scare" of the 1950s – the fear fueled by Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy that the Communists had infested the federal government. State Department employees accused would be interviewed for the purpose of obtaining information about other people. "It's the technique the government uses: catch a person, then inform them about other people," said filmmaker Josh Howard.

But a panic of another color resulted in a much larger purge of gay employees. "Homosexuals should not handle top secret content," McCarthy said. "The pervert is easy prey for the master singer."

The panic long spent McCarthy's term.

David K. Johnson is the author of the definitive story of what is now called "the fear of lavender". He defined it as "a fear that permeates the political culture of the cold war, the fear that gays are a threat to national security, that they have infiltrated the federal government and that they must be systematically removed from the public service ".

The elimination of homosexual employees became an official policy with a decree signed by the newly elected president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1953.

"It's a guy who understood a real threat," said correspondent Mo Rocca. "I mean, he's the Supreme Allied Commander in World War II, so you'd think he'd understand a real threat."

"Well, I think he's done it," Johnson said. "I think he probably did not perceive this threat as a real threat, but he saw that she had won the election."

"That it was opportune, politically?"

"It was part of their campaign, no." Let's clean the house. "Let's get rid of all these people."

Presses of the University of Chicago

Howard, formerly of CBS News, produced and produced a new documentary on PBS, soon to be released on PBS. He said that there was a good reason you probably did not know this chapter of history.

"The lavender scaring happened in private," Howard said. "The people who were fired did not want to tell their closest friends and loved ones why they were fired because they wanted to stay in the closet."

"If you had been discovered homosexual during those years, your life was essentially over.The company rejected you.You were rejected at your workplace.This is why people were in the closet in the the 50's".

Even in private homes, gays were not immune to the investigators.

Bob Cantillion, a navy soldier, was asked to report to the police station for questioning. He recalled in the documentary: "At Christmas, some friends were having a party, someone had to warn them that there was a party where homosexuals were going to be."

"I freely admitted that I was gay, and then they said," We also want five names of other people you know. "So, I searched my mind and I gave them the names of five people who, in my opinion, would be the least hurt.My impression was that after naming these five names would have let go and nothing would happen next, all were unloaded. "

Rocca asked, "Is there a proper procedure and can you call a lawyer?"

"You could not call a lawyer, no, that was not allowed," Johnson said.

"Did you just have to answer yes or no, to confess?"

"Security officials have bragged that homosexuals have very easily confessed and told the truth, and what they do not talk about is that they are basically blackmailing people." They threatened to tell So, many homosexuals have quietly resigned. "

Johnson estimates that between 5,000 and 10,000 people have been fired or resigned and we will never know how many of them have not pursued their dreams for fear of being exposed.

Captain Joan Cassidy is from a family of proud veterans. She had a chance to become the first admiral. "I could not do it, I just could not do it," she said. "It was too great a chance to grab in. So, I had to give up the opportunity to be admiral because I was gay and I was not sure about being able to." hide it enough. "

Other stories ended in the worst possible way. Drew Ference, the son of immigrants, spoke five languages ​​and worked at the American Embassy in Paris when investigators confronted him with the evidence that he was gay. Shortly after confessing, he was killed.

He was not the only one.

Johnson said, "I have seen a lot of newspaper reports of young single men, government employees, who committed suicide in Washington for no apparent reason."

"Nobody defended homosexuals," said Howard. "Democrats have stayed away from this issue.At the time, the ACLU felt that it was perfectly legitimate for the government to fire homosexuals as a security threat. national. "

The persecution of homosexual officials has given birth to the gay rights movement in the pugnacious character of Frank Kameny, who holds a doctorate. from Harvard and an astronomer from the US Army Mapping Service. He was fired in 1957 to be gay. In the documentary, he said: "To the best of my knowledge and belief, I was the first person to resist all the many layoffs that were fired in the 1950s".

According to Johnson, Kameny said, "This is not a question of national security or even morality, it is about civil rights, it is creating this new rhetoric, and it is calling itself and its colleagues in the group" American Homosexuals "and you can not forget any part of it. "

In 1963, he became the first homosexual to testify at Capitol Hill.

Then, in 1965, he organized pickets in front of the State Department and the White House. He then told CBS News: "Every American citizen has the right to be considered by his government on the basis of his personal merits as an individual."

"These people were very brave," Johnson said. "It had never been done before and they were scared to death."

But the discriminatory policy continued. In 1980, Jamie Shoemaker worked for the National Security Agency as a linguist. When asked what kind of security check he had, Shoemaker replied, "Very high, probably more than the president, actually, you might be surprised."

One day, his supervisor told him that security wanted to interrogate him: "And the first thing they said, is," Mr. Shoemaker, we understand that you are leading a gay life . "And I said, well, I did not think I was leading but I said: "Yes. I am. & # 39; And immediately they removed my badge. And they read me my rights. "

And so, he called Frank Kameny. The cobbler was reminded, "He yelled at me saying," Why did you let them take your badge? And why did not you shut your mouth? "

Six months later, with Kameny's help, Shoemaker made headlines when the agency allowed him to keep his work and his security clearances.

In 1995, after 42 years, the last vestiges of the Eisenhower executive order were finally canceled when President Bill Clinton signed a decree canceling the policy.

Rocca asked, "How many gay federal employees have been spied for foreign governments?"

"There was not a single example of a homosexual or lesbian man who has ever been blackmailed by a foreign agent, not one," Howard said.

In 2009, Frank Kameny was back at the White House, this time invited by President Barack Obama for a ceremony to extend the rights of federal gay employees.

Kameny died in 2011, shortly after being interviewed by Josh Howard, who said that there were still lessons to be learned from Kameny's courage:

"I grew up in an era prior to the equality of marriages and before Stonewall," Howard said. "So, in some ways, I envy young people, they grow up in a more tolerant society.But I also hope that they understand that equality is not a given." that there are people who fought and sacrificed themselves for these achievements. "

To watch a trailer of the documentary "The Lavender Scare", click on the video player below.

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Story produced by Kay M. Lim and Julie Kracov.