The Lavender Scare: Paranoia, Queer Life, and the Cold War (In-Person)

In the two decades that followed World War II, gay and lesbian Americans became the target of a vast federal witch hunt. The Lavender Scare, as it is known today, led to the firings of at least 8,000 federal employees and cast a shadow over the personal and professional lives of many more queer Americans. In the same period, the House Committee on Un-American Activities gained notoriety for its televised interrogations of alleged Communists in the State Department between 1950 and 1954. The Lavender Scare, by contrast, stretched into the 1960s, and played a lasting role in the political and cultural designation of queer Americans as second-class citizens. In spite of this, the history of the Lavender Scare remains a mere footnote in the story of McCarthyism. What might account for this discrepancy? And what is the Lavender Scare’s relationship to the Red Scare?

In this course, we will dive into historical accounts of the Lavender Scare, first-person testimonies of those who lived through it, and cultural representations of the period in fiction and film. How did the social upheavals of World War II lead to the conflation of homosexuality with disloyalty to America? How did the white heterosexual social contract of the postwar period marginalize gay and lesbian Americans at the intersections of race and class in new and violent ways? What forms of resistance flourished under the pressure of this protracted campaign of scapegoating? What can be learned from the failures and successes of gays and lesbians as they built community, forged political alliances, and fought back against attacks on their personhood? Course material will include selections from David K. Johnson, Allan Bérubé, Marcia Gallo, Leslie Feinberg, Margot Canaday, Serena Mayeri, Genny Beemyn, Emily K. Hobson, Daniel Rivers, Thomas Mallon, and John D’Emilio.

Course Schedule

Wednesday, 6:30-9:30pm ET
April 08 — April 29, 2026
4 weeks

$335.00

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