The Lavender Scare

While the fight over gay marriage has been bitterly contested and debated for much of the 21st century, it's still somewhat difficult to believe that just 50 years ago, homosexual activity was illegal in nearly every state in America. Homosexuals faced discrimination that surpassed that of even African-Americans or suspected Communists, and their lifestyles were so taboo that they were typically considered to be a security risk because it would be so easy for someone who wished to harm the country to blackmail them. In 1950, a Senate Subcommittee on Investigations reported, "In further considering the general suitability of perverts as Government employees, it is generally believed that those who engage in overt acts of perversion lack the emotional stability of normal persons. In addition there is an abundance of evidence to sustain the conclusion that indulgence in acts of sex perversion weakens the moral fiber of an individual to a degree that he is not suitable for a position of responsibility. Most of the authorities agree and our investigation has shown that the presence of a sex pervert in a Government agency tends to have a corrosive influence upon his fellow employees. These perverts will frequently attempt to entice normal individuals to engage in perverted practices. This is particularly true in the case of young and impressionable people who might come under the influence of a pervert. Government officials have the responsibility of keeping this type of corrosive influence out of the agencies under their control. It is particularly important that the thousands of young men and women who are brought into Federal jobs not be subjected to that type of influence while in the service of the Government. One homosexual can pollute a Government office." Indeed, in the decades that followed, the FBI kept lists of known homosexuals, and law enforcement agencies regularly raided known gay bars and other similar establishments.


Due to the suspicions and even open hostility with which they were treated by the general public, gays and lesbians tended to settle together in small enclaves, seeking the same support and understanding of their plight that early immigrants did under similar circumstances. Following World War I, Greenwich Village in New York City became a popular area for those looking for the freedom to live out their sexual orientation unencumbered by stares and reproach. In addition to being popular among African Americans, Harlem also attracted a large number of gay men and women.
Ironically, these men and women enjoyed even more freedom during Prohibition, as police units were too busy trying to break up speakeasies to bother them. Activist Doric Wilson recalled, "When I was very young, one of the terms for gay people was twilight people, meaning that we never came out until twilight, 'til it got dark. Gay bars were always on side streets out of the way in neighborhoods that nobody would go into. The windows were always cloaked."


After decades of staying firmly out of public view, a number of groups formed in the years following World War II to try to legitimize homosexuality in American society. One of the major ones was the Mattachine Society, which began in 1950 in the home of Harry Hay, a known communist. This organization was focused primarily on assisting men who had been arrested as "sexual deviants," but over time, the group began to focus more and more on having gays accepted into society. Dick Leitsch, once the executive director of the Mattachine Society of New York (MSNY), explained, "At Mattachine we were just trying to legitimize being gay -- fighting employment discrimination, police entrapment, bar raids -- and the government and the police were trying to make it impossible to be gay."