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The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government

by David K. Johnson - £22.00  The University of Chicago Press (2023)
paperback    ISBN 13: 9780226825724 | ISBN 10: 0226825728

A new edition of a classic work of history, revealing the anti-homosexual purges of midcentury Washington.
 
In The Lavender Scare, David K. Johnson tells the frightening story of how, during the Cold War, homosexuals were considered as dangerous a threat to national security as Communists. Charges that the Roosevelt and Truman administrations were havens for homosexuals proved a potent political weapon, sparking a “Lavender Scare” more vehement and long-lasting than Joseph McCarthy’s Red Scare.
 
Drawing on declassified documents, years of research in the records of the National Archives and the FBI, and interviews with former civil servants, Johnson recreates the vibrant gay subculture that flourished in midcentury Washington and takes us inside the security interrogation rooms where anti-homosexual purges ruined the lives and careers of thousands of Americans.
 
This enlarged edition of Johnson’s classic work of history—the winner of numerous awards and the basis for an acclaimed documentary broadcast on PBS—features a new epilogue, bringing the still-relevant story into the twenty-first century.

(Price & availability last checked: February 2024)

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The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government

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Featured book: New History & Biography, New Books - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender,
In booklists: LGBTQ+ Activism, Politics & Equal Rights, USA: Radical America,
In categories: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexuality & Transgender, World - North America,