While viewing the clip shown in class this week dealing with how to spot a communist I was reminded of a family guy clip that I had seen before. This Family Guy clip is very similar to the one shown in class but substitutes communism for homosexuality, showing the viewer how to spot a gay. Knowing that Family Guy spoofs usually have some relevance to real life events I decided to do some research on this and found out that there was a Lavender Scare occurring at the same time as the Red Scare, both being effects of the Cold war. The Lavender Scare refers to the persecution of homosexuals in the 1950’s, and gained its popularity through the association of homosexuality with communism. Around this time homosexuality was seen as a mental illness and because they had this “mental illness” gays and lesbians were seen as being susceptible to blackmail. McCarthy, who was very prominent in the Red Scare was also prominent in the Lavender scare. He and many others believed that because of their susceptibility to black mail homosexuals would be easy prey for communists and those in the federal government would be forced to give them secret information on the U.S. government. Just as with the Red Scare, the Lavender scare resulted in various accusations, investigations, and firings within the Federal government. Many Americans terrified of communism were easily convinced to back the Lavender scare, and some even began to view homosexuals as a bigger threat to national security then communists themselves. Today; however, many people claim that there were other reasons as to why the Lavender Scare was started other then Communism. One being that the number of Homosexuals in America was on a rise and Lavender Scare was used to put an end to this and preserve Americas masculinity. Others believe it was used by the republican party as a way to take down Harry S. Trumans administration by exposing it as not only communist but homosexual. Like the last post on pornography this shows another example of politicians taking advantage of peoples fearss to push their agendas. I had previously not heard of the lavander scare and i think this Family guy clip was a great way of bringing attention this event which people do not tend to talk about.
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Great post Gilbert. I actually had no idea that there was such a thing called the Lavender Scare. Like the Red Scare, the Lavender Scare also seems like something a politician would make up just to sway some votes his way and that’s why I’m not surprised that you made the connection between politics and these irrational fears. I feel like we see this in every campaign nowadays: One party always accuses the other party of being attached to some devious ideology because of one of the candidate’s proposed policies. To me, political arguments and discussions seem to always be based on incorrect information, incorrect data, and opinions. No one seems to rely on the solid facts, which leads to the propoganda that we see above.
I found this post very interesting. I love discovering things that were relatively unknown and rarely publicized. I think the remnant of the Lavender Scare is the stigma that most Americans have against homosexuals. They are discriminated against and treated as lesser beings. Most people in conservative stated avoid homosexuals and the topic of them like people did in the past with the topic of communism. Living in the city, I like to think that society has accepted homosexuality, but I think it is just swept under the rug. Have we really evolved?