The Lavender Scare was a little-known episode in LGBTQ history in which thousands of gay men and women employed by the federal government in the 1950s lost their jobs due to their sexuality. From this purge, the gay rights movement emerged to fight vigorously for LGBTQ individuals’ ability to work, regardless of their sexual orientation. By examining both government documents and the manuscripts of those involved in the budding gay rights movement, I evaluate how the Lavender Scare came into play and the reverberating effects on the LGBTQ community in the 1950s and 1960s. The Lavender Scare blossomed out of the anti-communist and homophobic paranoia of the McCarthy era and resulted in the termination of thousands of homosexual government employees and major panic in the LGBT community due to the loss of people’s sense of security, but the aftermath gave way to unity in the community and helped lay the foundation for equal LGBT rights in the United States. This research is increasingly relevant at a time when the Supreme Court is deciding a case on whether employees can be discriminated against based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Mentor: Meredith Oyen, History

This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

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