Episode 303 Pride Month 2026 - The Lavender Scare
From Family Plot by Family Plot Podcast
June 4, 2026 · 1h 7m · Episode 303
About this episode
This episode discusses the Lavender Scare and its impact on LGBTQ individuals, highlighting historical figures and events related to discrimination against gay employees in government.
Have you heard of 'Tail-Gunner Joe' McCarthy and the Red Scare? What about Roy Cohn? These two not only kicked off the Red Scare where they pursued supposed communists in Government and later the military, but also went aafter gays under the theory that they were 'moral perverts susceptible to blackmail.'. Despite no evidence appearing that even one of these people were blackmailed outside the movie Clue (which is complete fiction), thousands of employees were fired between 1953 and the 90's when gay employees were forced out of government positions or fotced to live lives undercover simply because of who they loved. We cover the history of the lavender scare, people who were targeted because of it, a similar case in England where Alan Turing, the father of Artificial Intelligence was convicted of gross perversion for his relationship with another man and was chemically castrated which led to the unraveling of his brilliant mind. All this and more in this, this is why we celebrate PRIDE because we need to remind ourselves just how bad it's been for the LGBTQ during our lifetimes episode of the Family Plot Podcast. Become a supporter of this podcast…
People in this episode
Host: Family Plot Podcast
Topics covered
- Lavender Scare
- LGBTQ history
- McCarthyism
- discrimination
- Alan Turing
- Pride Month
Keywords
- Lavender Scare
- LGBTQ
- McCarthyism
- Alan Turing
- discrimination
- Pride Month
- history
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