The Lavender Scare was a time in American history when there was a fear that the United States government would be overpowered by homosexual people. Many people believe that homosexual people are more prone to being victims of blackmail and are seen to be weaker. The Lavender Scare and the policy of interrogating all government workers and removing them from office was a practice that was similar to the Red Scare during the Cold War. The Red Scare was the fear that the government was beginning to be overpowered by communists as no one wanted the threat of their freedom being taken away.
The smearing that Sen. Joseph McCarthy started during the Cold War of communists and homosexuals intertwined the two together. As McCarthy was the initial starter of the accusations, they are automatically connected due to that factor. There was no credibility to McCarthy being the source of the accusations as there was no way in proving them to be true. The Lavender Scare accused homosexuals as easy targets for blackmail as they are seen to be weaker in the eyes of the governed people. There is no way in proving that homosexuals are more prone to giving in to blackmail compared to heterosexuals as both homosexuals and heterosexuals have equal chances of being victims to blackmail. The Red Scare influenced all Americans into thinking that the United States is swarming with secret communists that are trying to form together to overthrow the democratic government to create a communist government. McCarthy, among others, was warning everyday Americans to be aware that communists are walking among them as teachers, professors, journalists, or any other profession that can influence someone. To attempt to hinder the spread of communism to spreading into the government and creating a communist nation, the same policy of the Lavender Scare took place. Government workers were interrogated and if they were seen to be guilty of being a communist then they would be terminated from their position.
I feel that the United States will never get away from sexual innuendos. Sexual innuendos can come in two different ways. A comment can be made that isn’t meant to be subjective or inappropriate towards another person but can be seen to go both innocent and inappropriate. Other times a sexual innuendo can be verbalized in a way that is directed toward someone in an inappropriate way and that is how it is interpreted. In any setting: politics, work, or social, sexual innuendos are present as in most circumstances anyone who is not a straight man is seen as weaker and inferior.
Will Wright 