The Red Scare and the Lavender Scare: Two Sides of the Same Coin

The “Lavender Scare” refers to the widespread fear of gay people and homosexuality during the time of the Cold War. It is often compared to the “Red Scare,” as both homosexuality and communism were perceived by the populace as morally corrupt, dangerous, and akin to slavery. Additionally, Americans were scared of the two because of “an ability to ‘pass’ undetected by ordinary Americans” (Friedman, 1106). They both were perceived as a threat to national security because of this, and there was widespread fear of both communists and gay people being in the federal government. The anticommunism and homophobia of the time were strongly supported by Joseph McCarthy, however he did not himself introduce the policies and practices surrounding them (Friedman, 1105).

Despite their similarities, the homophobia of the Lavender Scare and the anticommunism of the Red Scare sometimes worked against each other, such in Joseph McCarthy’s case. While McCarthy fought against liberals by saying that they were communist, or at least sympathetic to the communist cause, liberals fought against him by insinuating that he was gay (Friedman, 1106). Republicans eventually began to do this as well after being dissatisfied with the actions of McCarthy and his staff. They attempted to attack his image as being a tough, self-made man by painting him as emotional and feminine, and they used gossip surrounding the sexualities of Cohn and Schine as a basis. The public began to view McCarthy as less moral and less able to be trusted because of this, similar to how those painted as communist were viewed.

In today’s world, I think we still have sexual innuendos in politics. However, I don’t really see as many accusations of and fear of government officials being gay in the modern American government. This is mainly because homosexuality is much more accepted and understood today than it was during the Cold War. There has been talk and gossip surrounding politicians’ sex lives in general though, which is often used to undermine the public’s perception of them, similar to the sexual smearing used during the Cold War. I think this trend could come from society’s desire for their leader to be a perfect role model, and drawing attention to their real or alleged sexual immorality is meant to paint them as less worthy of being an authority figure. I also wonder if this role model status is inherently tied to their gender, in that they are expected to embody what society expects of their gender role. For example, McCarthy was initially viewed as embodying masculinity and being the ideal man, and the effects of the Lavender Scare on him made people question his ability to be a male role-model. Today, we might see this in the comments surrounding Kamala Harris’s decision to not have children, with people questioning her womanhood because of that. Overall, sexual innuendos are still prevalent in modern day politics, but they have somewhat adapted to the modern social and political climate.