"America v. Homosexuality" Transcript

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As the second world war ended and masses of servicemen returned home to America having spent almost all of their time away exclusively with other men, there seemed to be an opening of the minds of the American populace when it came to homosexuality. Not that it was an acceptable alternative to heterosexuality now, but that it wasn't the worst thing in the world, usually under the caveat that it would be something a man would grow out of. How Italian.

But politicians who did not serve their country in Europe or the South Pacific did not see this new momentary mindset as a good thing. Instead they saw it as a corrupting influence on America's men, just as bad if not worse than the ghostly specter of communism they feared would make its way to the United States after American boys spent so much time with Russians over in Europe.

And so began the Red Scare in Washington DC, as politicians led a crusade against actual and perceived communists working within the Beltway. And it didn't take long for them to broaden their scope to include actual and perceived homosexuals as well with almost 5,000 gay people having lost their jobs in Washington by the end of the scare. The Lavender Scare became a witch hunt for boogeyman just as terrifying as the communists. And as Washington took aim at suspected communists in Hollywood, suspected homosexuals in Hollywood were added to the growing Blacklist.

But before we explore the government-sanctioned Manhunt against gays and lesbians in the 1950s, let's hear a word from our sponsor.

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In the early 20th century, the United States experienced a period of political persecution and anxiety known as the "Red Scare". There were two different eras in American history that are collectively known as the Red Scare, both of which were marked by widespread anxiety over communism and other leftist ideas. The first Red Scare happened in the wake of World War One and is rarely spoken about. And the second occurred in the midst of the Cold War in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

To a considerable extent, the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia was to blame for the onset of the first Red Scare. It's no secret that many Americans, especially those in positions of authority, were worried about the emergence of the Soviet Union and the expansion of communism in Europe. In response to this perceived threat, the American government enacted a set of laws intended to limit the freedoms of those who were either Communists or sympathizers of the Communist cause.

The Sedition Act of 1918 was one of the most notorious pieces of legislation enacted at the time, because it made it a crime to criticize is the government. Anyone suspected of being a Communist or Anarchist was subject to prosecution under these statutes, regardless of whether or not they had committed any real crimes. The American Protective League was one of the several private groups formed during the first Red Scare with the authority to investigate and report on suspected subversives.

During the height of the Red Scare, the American Legion spearheaded a drive to identify and punish suspected traitors. After World War II, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union grew once again, sparking the second Red Scare. During this time, communism was again considered a major danger to American democracy and its way of life. The inquiry undertaken by Senator Joseph McCarthy, known as the McCarthy hearings, was one of the most important events of the second Red Scare.

McCarthy claimed to have a list of people who were either Communist party members or sympathizers. And he used his position in government to initiate a series of investigations and interrogations to flush them out. Dramatic confrontations and high profile charges typified the McCarthy hearings, which had far-reaching effects on American culture.

Many individuals were punished for their suspected Communist links, even though there was no proof to back up the claims. Witnesses were questioned under duress throughout the trials to get them to identify other Communists who were under suspicion. Even if they were judged not to be Communist supporters, many people were blacklisted and lost their employment as a consequence of the proceedings.

Because of McCarthy and his associates harsh methods and disregard for due process, the hearings became notorious. But the hearings came to an end in 1954 when McCarthy was censured by the senate for his conduct during the investigations. Marking the beginning of the end of McCarthy's political career, the hearings are now widely viewed as a dark chapter in American history.

In 1950, many politicians, journalists, and citizens thought that homosexuals actually posed more of a threat to national security than Communists. One columnist argued:

[Quote on screen, audio distorted]:

"There is no record of comparable corruption in American history."

In a national radio broadcast, noted liberal Elmer Davis said:

"It looks as if the enemies of the State Department, and of the administration generally, have gotten hold of a more profitable issue than communism."

Senator Kenneth Wherry asked his Senate colleagues:

"Can you think of a person who would be more dangerous to the United States
than a pervert?"

And multiple of President Harry Truman's top advisors wrote him memos stating:

"The country is more concerned about the charges of homosexuals in government than about Communists."

In the UK, it was just about social purity. Yet in America, the existence of gay men specifically was somehow a matter of life and death. Historians of the McCarthy period have paid surprisingly little attention to the Lavender Scare, despite the widespread worry and even panic it caused at the time. The significance of party politics and foreign policy in the emergence of the national security state is emphasized by political historians of McCarthyism, anti-communism, and the establishment of the national security state, while the role of moral and cultural concerns is downplayed.

Anytime the Lavender Scare is discussed, it is as an afterthought of the Red Scare, that is so obvious that it doesn't ever need explanation. The overlapping worries of communism and homosexuality have been largely ignored in even the most recent examinations of McCarthyism, both the defenses from the right and criticisms from the left. Many people who supported McCarthy back in the 1950s considered the systemic expulsion of gays from the State Department and other government positions to be his most lasting achievement.

Senator Joseph McCarthy alleged, in February of 1950, that there were 205 communists working in the State Department. That same month, Undersecretary of State John Peurifoy said that the State Department had permitted 91 homosexuals to retire.

After this, some said the president Harry Truman's government was insufficiently concerned about the threat posed by homosexuals. The Senate started looking into homosexuals working for the government in June of 1950. Although the findings weren't made public until December, throughout that time, there was a sharp rise in the number of government employees let go because of homophobic harassment or discrimination.

When asked about (quote) "sexual perverts who have infiltrated our government in recent years", Republican National Chairman Guy George Gabrielson claimed that:

"They were perhaps as dangerous as the actual communists."

However, being homosexual wasn't the only reason they were in danger. Homosexuals were observed as security threats, because they were believed to be more vulnerable to blackmail. As top counsel of his Congressional subcommittee, McCarthy employed Roy Cohn, who himself was homosexual, and died of AIDS decades later.

Because of his attempts to protect his reputation, he insisted that his doctor treat him for liver cancer. So at the same time that his immune system was dying, he was undergoing cancer treatments that destroyed what was left of his white blood cells. At the same time he also pulled what strings he could to get on the experimental HIV medication that was still undergoing medical trials, AZT, which... destroyed his liver.

Someday we will progress as a community to the point where the only remaining legacy of Roy Cohn is as the villain of Tony Kushner's iconic stage play Angels In America. But we're not quite there yet.

Because Cohn and McCarthy, with the help of FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover (who is also believed to have been gay), were responsible for the dismissal of thousands of gay government employees and the intimidation of many of their political opponents into silence by spreading false allegations about their sexual orientation. The state department revealed that it had dismissed 425 workers due to charges of homosexuality in the closing months of the Truman Administration in 1953.

McCarthy's anti-communist campaign often fused the second Red Scare with the Lavender Scare by using allegations of homosexuality as a smear tactic. Reporters were once subjected to the following statement:

"If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, you've got to either be a communist or a c*cksucker."

When proof of communist activity was absent, McCarthy allegedly used guilt by association by equating communism and homosexuality with mental instability. The general public and even politicians had a common view that gays and communists were both morally weak, or psychologically disturbed. As well as godless and destructive to traditional families.

For instance, McCarthy openly discussed two individuals, Case 14 and Case 62, on the Senate floor as communists who posed unsafe risks due to their homosexuality. He said that a high-ranking intelligence officer had informed him that every active communist is twisted mentally or physically, implying that those with the peculiar mental twists of homosexuality were more susceptible to recruitment by communists.

Many of the male workers at the State Department started to feel... uncomfortable even being there because of the department's new association with homosexuality. They were quite adamant about not being seen in pairs and they often introduced themselves with words emphasizing their straightness. "Hi! I'm so and so! I work for the State Department and I'm married and I have three children!"

Executive order 10450, enacted by President Eisenhower in 1953, prohibited gays from holding federal government positions and established security criteria for federal employment. As a direct result of these policies, hundreds of openly gay State Department employees were outed and fired. About 5,000 gay individuals, including private contractors and military personnel, lost their jobs at the federal government as a result of this presidential order. The victims were not only fired from employment... but also outed to the public.

This presidential order expanded Truman's "loyalty program" by including sexual perversion among the actions that disqualified a person from holding a federal post. Many new rules and practices were implemented to identify and expel persons who identify as homosexual, lesbian, or bisexual. It was common practice to conduct interviews and check for overt displays of homosexual biases as part of these new methods to detect gays. People were judged guilty not just by connection with those who frequented the same homosexual clubs as the suspects. They may also be questioned if members of their immediate or extended family had gay tendencies or gay connections.

By the mid-1950s, similar repressive and oppressive policies had been enacted in state and local governments as well, expanding bans on hiring lesbians and gay men to cover 12 million workers, more than 20 percent of the United States labor force, all of whom were required to sign oaths attesting to their moral purity in order to obtain or maintain employment.

But McCarthy's crew of homophobes were about to have the sights trained on themselves. When Roy Cohn brought on G. David Schine as chief consultant to the McCarthy staff, speculation arose that Schine and Cohn had a sexual relationship. During the Army-McCarthy hearings, Cohn denied being closer than an ordinary friend to Schine or having any special interest in him. Army Council Joseph Welch seemed to elude to Cohn's sexual orientation throughout the proceedings.

McCarthy's unwavering support for Cohn fueled rumors that the senator was either coerced by his senior counsel, or that their relationship went beyond professional boundaries. McCarthy "often engaged in homosexual activities", Nevada publisher Hank Greenspun said in 1952, and claimed that he was a regular at the White Horse Inn, a Milwaukee gay nightclub.

All this attention eventually led to Roy Cohn being removed from his post alongside McCarthy and helped fuel McCarthy's own downfall in due time.

The McCarthy period as a whole came to an end in the middle of the 1950s, when the Cole v. Young judgment in 1956 significantly reduced the authority to remove anyone from the federal government with discriminatory grounds.

However, the Lavender Scare continued for many more decades. The Florida Legislative Investigative Committee, also known as The Johns Committee or FLIC, was another manifestation of the Lavender Scare that endured. Established in 1956, the FLIC lasted until 1964 before being dissolved. The committee's mission in Florida was to investigate and fire homosexual public school teachers, carrying on the Lavender Scare in spirit, if not entirely in practice.

And it wasn't until the Obama Administration that military service for openly gay people was allowed, since the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was just another Executive Order 10450 under a different name.

But though the Lavender Scare unofficially came to an end with the fall of McCarthyism after multiple decisions by the Supreme Court defanged the senator and left him nothing but a paper tiger, the fear and loathing toward homosexuals, as well as accused Communists, survived much longer in Hollywood.

Even before McCarthy began his crusade, producers in California had been blacklisting anyone even remotely connected to communism, thanks to pressure from future president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, who was then the president of the Screen Actors Guild. Many Hollywood professionals were called to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee in October of 1947. It was announced that the committee would look into allegations that Communist spies and supporters had planted propaganda in Hollywood movies.

Walt Disney spoke first during the proceedings. Disney testified that Communists posed a severe danger to the film business and identified many former employees as possible Communists. In contrast, other leading Hollywood figures including director John Houston and actors Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Judy Garland, and Danny Kaye, organized the Committee for the First Amendment to protest the government's targeting of the film industry.

Of the people working in Hollywood that the House Un-American Activities Committee was interested in, many were accused of being members of the Communist Party USA. Of the initial witness list of 43, 19 declared that they would not give evidence. 11 of the original 19 were questioned by the panel.

On Monday, October 27th, the hearing's last phase began, and members of the Committee for the First Amendment traveled in from throughout the country to participate. Only one of the 11 "unfriendly" witnesses, writer Bertolt Brecht, agreed to speak with the committee, after which he fled the country. Ten others declined, claiming their right to free expression and assembly under the First Amendment. The question:

Are you now...
Or have you ever been...
A member of the Communist Party?

was one which they flat out refused to answer. The committee formally accused these ten of contempt of Congress, and began criminal proceedings against them in the full House of Representatives.

The House Un-American Activities Committee hearings failed to turn up any evidence that Hollywood was secretly disseminating Xommunist propaganda, but the industry was nonetheless transformed. Producers and studio heads were now on the watch for any and all anti-American activity, fearing further investigation from the government, especially ones that might lead to government censorship, which they'd only narrowly avoided decades before. So as Hollywood always does, they chose to self-censor before being told to. This began a crackdown on any directors, writers or actors who might be communist, or gay.

The echoes of McCarthyism were sounding loudly in the Hollywood Hills, and the association between gay and communist were inseparable by then. And as mentioned in previous episodes, Hollywood was more or less stuffed full of gay men and women working in any one of a multitude of roles in the industry. This resulted in multiple well-respected directors moving to Europe and sending many more up-and-coming and well-established actors even further into the closet.

Suddenly films about the fear of extraterrestrials became hot tickets in Hollywood as a narrative device to help instill fear of anything even slightly different to the masses of the growing Suburban America. These monsters from outer space were communists, gays, and people of color. These aliens could be anything and everything John and Martha were afraid of, which (thanks to Senator McCarthy) was a lot of things.

But no theme was more prevalent than the alien shapeshifter, the ones who could live alongside the normal people, corrupting them from within. Communists coming for your husbands. Gays coming for your sons.

The Red Scare and the dread of Communist infiltration into American culture are commonly seen as metaphors in the 1956 science fiction classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The film has also been seen as a homosexual allegory by any number of reviewers and scholars throughout the years.

The film's narrative revolves around an extraterrestrial invasion of Earth and the subsequent infiltration of soulless carbon copy humans developed in pods. The pod inhabitants begin to symbolize, as the film unfolds, a society that is driven by uniformity and tries to eliminate individuality and uniqueness. This uniformity and conformity theme has been linked to the gay experience in the 1950s ever since. Many gay individuals in the past were pressured to conceal their identities and mask their sexual orientation because of the widespread stigma associated with being gay at the time.

The film's depiction of the pod people paints them as robotic drones devoid of feeling and individuality. In addition, the film's characters are a misfit crew that the perceived conventional society rejects and ignores. People who insist that something nefarious is occurring are sometimes branded as insane or paranoid. Similar to the experiences of gay people, who were frequently disregarded and mocked by the larger society, the characters in this story are members of a minority group who are trying to persuade the world of a threat that only they can see.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is undoubtedly a film that reflects the societal anxieties of its time and can also be seen as a powerful gay allegory. By exploring themes of conformity, individuality, and marginalization, the film speaks to the experiences of many gay people who struggle to find acceptance in a society that sought to erase their differences.

Invaders from Mars features a similar plot to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. David, the film's protagonist, is a creative and sensitive young man who is ridiculed and excluded from school. He has a difficult time relating to people, even his own father, with whom he has a tense relationship. Many members of the queer community, especially around the time the film was released, have experienced feelings of alienation and exclusion similar to those shown in the film.

Actor Arthur Franz, who plays David's father in the film, has been speculated to be homosexual in real life. Morris Ankrum, who was also thought to be gay, plays Dr. Kelston, an investigator of the UFO phenomena. There are aspects in Invaders from Mars that... may be seen via a queer lens, even if that wasn't the film's original intent. From the underlying ties between the male characters, to the overt themes of possession and invasion.

The 1939 film, Ninotchka has also been interpreted by film critics as an allegory for lesbian desire and love. Firstly the character of Nina, played by Greta Garbo, is a stern and serious Soviet envoy, who comes to Paris to supervise a group of three bumbling comrades who have been sent there to sell jewels seized during the Russian Revolution. Nina is initially portrayed as cold and unfeeling. But she begins to thaw as she falls in love with the charming and carefree Count Léon d'Algou, played by Melvyn Douglas.

This dynamic of a strict and buttoned up woman being seduced by a more carefree and flamboyant man is a common trope in classic Hollywood films. But it also mirrors the expectation that more "manly" or serious women would lighten up and go straight eventually. The assumption among many was, after all, that the only thing stopping a lesbian from being a happy homemaker was finding the right man.

Finally there is the character of Irma, played by Bela Lugosi, Irma is portrayed as a flamboyant and theatrical figure with a campy and exaggerated manner of speaking and gesturing. While the character is not explicitly identified as queer, the fact that Lugosi himself was bisexual and often played roles with homoerotic undertones has led some viewers to interpret Irma as a coded representation of queer desire.

And from a completely opposite direction, we have the notorious Plan 9 from Outer Space, from the infamous filmmaker Ed Wood. While the film has long been considered a cinematic disaster, it has also been celebrated for its campy subversive qualities. In particular, many critics and scholars have interpreted the film as a queer allegory.

One way in which the film can be seen as a queer allegory is through the character of the alien leader Eros. Eros is portrayed as a flamboyant effeminate figure with his distinctive attire, makeup, and mannerisms. He moves with a graceful almost balletic quality, and his speech is melodramatic and theatrical. His characterization is so exaggerated that it goes well beyond mere stereotyping, and instead creates a queer icon that challenges and subverts traditional gender norms.

Another aspect of the film that can be interpreted as a queer allegory is its underlying critique of conformity. The plot revolves around the alien's plan to destroy Earth because they view it as a threat to their own culture, and way of life. This can be seen as a commentary on the obsessive forces of conformity that queer individuals have often faced. The aliens' desire for uniformity and sameness can be read as a metaphor for the societal pressures to conform to heteronormative standards and expectations. And even the internal expectations of the queer community.

Finally the film's low budget campy style can be seen as a celebration of the marginal and the underground. In the context of queer culture, camp has often been used as a way to resist and subvert dominant cultural norms. The film's deliberately bad acting, special effects, and overall production value can be seen as a queer refusal to conform to traditional Hollywood standards. (Or maybe I'm reaching a bit with that one.)

But suffice to say, the 1950s were a time of strict social conformity in America. The culture was dominated by the ideal of the nuclear family, where a husband worked and provided for his wife and children, while the wife stayed at home and took care of the household. Any deviation from this norm was considered dangerously deviant, and subject to social ostracization.

This, of course, included homosexuality, which was widely seen as a mental illness or a moral failing. Gay people in the 1950s faced significant depression^{[sic: oppression? repression?]} from the dominant culture, as well as legal and social sanctions. Homosexuality was illegal in every state, and those who were caught engaging in same-sex activities could face imprisonment or institutionalization in mental hospitals. In this culture of fear and secrecy, gay people were forced to hide their true selves and lead double lives, whereas suspected communist agents chose to lead double lives.

Many gay men and women were also forced into marriages with the opposite sex in order to maintain appearances and avoid suspicion. These marriages were often unhappy and unfulfilling for both partners and they often ended in divorce or estrangement. This further reinforced the idea that homosexuality was a choice, and that gay people could choose to be straight if they wanted to.

Gays and lesbians were also subject to violence and discrimination. In many areas gay bars were the only places where they could meet and socialize. However, these spaces were often raided by police who would arrest patrons and subject them to violence and humiliation. These bars were actually raided more often than suspected communist hideouts. Gays and lesbians were considered easier targets by the police, and since the government believed a queer person could easily be turned communist, arresting them was killing two birds with one stone. The policing of gender norms and the emphasis on conformity made it nearly impossible for gays and lesbians to be themselves and live fulfilling lives.

It wasn't until the Stonewall riots of 1969 and the subsequent gay rights movement that things began to change in America. But Hollywood would begin to ease up on the depiction of gay people in the 1960s. But mostly in coded ways.

But even with deep deep coding... there was a catch anyone confirmed to be gay or even heavily coded to be... wouldn't have it easy. And to live a life true to themselves they might just have to die for it.

[James talks in a small box on black. "Inspiring Message" by Cash_up plays.]

As we close out this episode I'd really like to thank all of our patrons. It's only because of you that videos like this are even possible. YouTube isn't all too friendly when it comes to pushing LGBTQ content, in fact in most cases they try their best to keep it hidden. So our amazing patrons are the only reason this channel keeps chugging along. Thank you all so much. From the bottom of my heart thank you. um... if you'd like to become a part of this seriously amazing community you can do so for as little as a dollar a month at the link in the pinned comment. Alright, now I'll let their credits roll and I'll see you soon for Unrequited Episode 4: Dying to be Queer.