History You Didn't Learn About the Anti-Gay Lavenr Sre | Time

Contents:

• YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD OF THE RED SRE, BUT THE LSER-KNOWN, ANTI-GAY 'LAVENR SRE' IS RARELY TGHT SCHOOLS
• THE WORLD'S NEW GAY STATE
• REVIEW 2023
• HOW TO USE TR DIFFERENTLY FOR GAY

YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD OF THE RED SRE, BUT THE LSER-KNOWN, ANTI-GAY 'LAVENR SRE' IS RARELY TGHT SCHOOLS

“They read me my rights, ” he rells, “and they said ‘we unrstand you’re leadg a gay liftyle. ’ And I remember sayg, ‘well, I didn’t thk I was leadg , but y, I’m gay.

Eisenhower’s Executive Orr 10450, the vtigatn, terrogatn and systematic removal of gay men and lbians om the feral ernment beme policy. Known as the “Lavenr Sre, ” the policy was based on the unfound fear that gay men and lbians “posed a threat to natnal secury bee they were vulnerable to blackmail and were nsired to have weak moral characters, ” says historian David K.

THE WORLD'S NEW GAY STATE

Joseph McCarthy’s fear-mongerg “Red Sre” mpaign the early 1950s, which targeted alleged subversive munists workg the feral ernment, thoands of ernment employe were forced out of their jobs as a rult of the anti-gay policy. The polil and moral fears about alleged subversiv beme tertwed wh a backlash agast homosexualy, as gay and lbian culture had grown visibily the post-war years. The Lavenr Sre tied the notns together, nflatg gay people wh munists and allegg they uld not be tsted wh ernment secrets and labellg them as secury risks, even though there was no evince to prove this.

REVIEW 2023

Johnson timat that somewhere between 5, 000 and 10, 000 people lost their jobs as a rult of the Lavenr Sre, although is difficult to know the te number of people affected, as the policy acted as a terrent to any gay man or lbian woman who would have been prospective ndidat for ernment jobs. Acrdg to a 1983 oral history terview wh drag kg Rty Brown, who served the Navy, the fear went even beyond Washgton, permeatg the entertament dtry Hollywood and the bars and nightclubs New York Cy, as people were aaid they would be fired if their employers found out they were gay.

By 1965, Kameny and other gay men and lbians were picketg outsi the Whe Hoe and helpg other fired employe wh their urt s.

HOW TO USE TR DIFFERENTLY FOR GAY

And although 1975 the Civil Service Commissn announced new l that meant gay people uld no longer be barred or fired om feral employment bee of their sexualy, discrimatn ntued other agenci where employe had secury clearance, like the NSA, where Shoemaker worked. Wh the civil rights activist’s help, Shoemaker beme the first gay employee at the NSA to keep their job and their secury clearance after such an vtigatn, unr the ndn that he told his fay he was gay.