The Lavender Scare went hand-in-hand with the Red Scare, which was an attempt to demonize, locate, and remove Communists in American government employment. Communists and LGBTQ+ people made convenient boogeyman, because they were invisible—anyone could be accused of being a “communist” or being a “homosexual.” This newspaper article from May 20, 1950 explicitly links the “evils of communism” and the “dangers of homosexuality.”
Estimated 3,750 Homosexuals Have Jobs in Washington
Washington, May 2—(AP)—Lawmakers pressed today for a speedy Senate inquiry into federal employment of sexual perverts described as the likely tools of communist conspirators.
A resolution calling for a full-scale investigation was introduced in the Senate last night shortly after an Appropriations Subcommittee reported that there are an estimated 3,750 homosexuals in government jobs in Washington.
he report, prepared by Senator Wherry (R-Neb), said:
“Only the most naïve could believe that the communists’ fifth column in the United states would neglect to propagate and use homosexuals to gain their treacherous ends in view of the resort to every conceivable form of sabotage revealed in every enemy country infiltrated by the ruthless communists.”
A companion report by Sen. Hill (D-Ala) put it this way: “It is accepted and agreed that persons who are homosexuals are bad security risks and should not be in sensitive positions or in any positions in the government where they might in any way aid or abet or be party to subversive activities.”
Both reports stressed that perverts are bad security risks because they are easy prey for blackmail.
Hill introduced the investigation resolution on behalf of the full membership of an appropriations subcommittee which handles District of Columbia matters. That group voted unanimously for an inquiry.
Sen. Ferguson (R-Mich), a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee, told the Senate last night the evidence the group got was so shocking it demands immediate action.
The subcommittee’s recommendations were based mainly on testimony by Lt. Roy E. Blick, head of the vice squad of Washington’s Metropolitan police department.
Blick said his conservative estimate is that there are about 5,000 sexual perverts in the District of Columbia. He said about 3,750 are on the government payroll.
Blick is reported to have told the subcommittee at closed sessions that 300 to 400 of these are in the State Department.
The department said last night that to the best of its knowledge it employs no sex perverts and that if any are found they will be fired summarily.
The department said in a statement that it had asked Blick for the names of any persons on its payroll against whom he had evidence of homosexuality. No such names have been furnished to the department, it added.
Citation: Wilmington News, (Wilmington, DE) May 20, 1950, Copyrighted 1950, Associated Press.