Joe McCarthy not only promoted the infamous Red Scare that led to purges in the State Department and Hollywood, he also began the Lavender Scare that did the same thing to homosexuals. Now, the anti-gay employment policies did not originate with him and some revisionist historians use that to argue that blaming him for the Lavender Scare is a smear. They are wrong. Joe McCarthy promoted the Lavender Scare and there is a transcript of him that proves them wrong.
- Transcript of Joe McCarthy to Wheeling Republican Women’s Club, 1952: Homosexuals in the State Department
- Out History: Book Review of The Lavender Scare
- Prologue Magazine: These People Are Frightened to Death
- NSA: The Lavender Scare: The origin of the policy to exclude homosexuals from government service
14 Mar 1950
14 Mar 1950