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catgirl-kaiju · 1 year

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Just curious, what's the "pink scare"?

I misspoke; I was referring to the Lavender Scare.

The Lavender Scare was an American political movement that lasted roughly from 1947 to 1956, paralleling the 2nd Red Scare. It was largely helmed by Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn and was a targeted campaign of political attack against queer people. The reasoning behind it was that gay men and lesbians constituted a threat against national security because their "subversive behavior" (not being straight) meant they somehow had strong connections to communism and, therefore, the USSR.

The movement resulted the outing and firing of hundreds of queer people from government jobs (ranging from politicians, clerks, military personnel, and contractors working with the government) with the State Department reporting that by 1953, they had fired 425 people under allegations of homosexuality. It also resulted in Dwight D. Eisenhower's Executive Order 10450, which fully barred any "homosexuals" from working any positions in the federal government.

EO 10450 was partially repealed in 1975 largely in response to young men using claims of homosexuality to dodge the Vietnam draft, and again in 1995 when the Bill Clinton administration instituted the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy for military personnel. It wasn't fully and completely repealed until 1998 with the Bill Clinton passing Executive Order 13087, which prohibited any such discrimination in federal employment and wasn't EXPLICITLY repealed until Barack Obama's Executive Order 13764 wich took effect in 2017.

The cultural effect was an amplification of pre-existing societal homophobia to violent extremes and the promotion of the idea that queer people are inherently dangerous to "American freedom and democracy". Fun fact, Roy Cohn was actually a gay man who was very openly in sexual and romantic relationships with many men, even during The Lavender Scare, bit considered himself to be different from other gay men, basically because he was a dominant top. He died of AIDS while being part of the federal government's inaction campaign in response to the pandemic.

If you want to read more about it, the Wikipedia page is a decent place to start.

The point I was making in regards to there being a 2nd Lavender Scare happening right now is in reference to the growing wave of targeted transphobic policies and violence from the political right and the liberal inaction in response to it.

I'd say that this new Lavender Scare started in 2017 with Trump's banning of trans people from entering the military and has continued to the present day when it is rapidly escalating with no end in sight.

The main characteristics of this new scare, in my opinion are:

A targeting of trans people, gender non-conformity, and drag performance as subversive elements in society that pose a danger to the "traditional family", christian hegemony, and the wellbeing of children.

The platforming of extremist right-wing propaganda from various sources in mainstream media and political discourse, which all spout unified transphobic talking points that inspire discriminatory policies and violence through stochastic terrorism.

Transphobic policies being passed into law at a rapid pace on the state level in multiple states, with little to no federal intervention. (This refers to the US specifically)

Domestic stochastic terrorist attacks on queer spaces that prominently feature and support trans communities and drag performance, which are inspired by transphobic right-wing propaganda.

The boosting of TERF voices who pitch the same transphobic talking points as the right, from a pseudo-leftist perspective that serves as an alternate route of attack in the insemination of violent transphobia into the mainstream. (This is especially prevalent in the UK)

The "groomer" narrative, which links trans people, gender non-conformity, and drag performance to pedophilia in an effort to evoke strong emotional reactions from misinformed people prone to bigotry and reactionary thinking. This tactic can also be seen in action with the Q-Anon conspiracy cult.

Utilizing trans people, gender non-conformity, and drag performance as scapegoats for economic decline, political unrest, and poor quality of life in order to disract from the systems actually responsible for these problems.

Link to article

Armed Proud Boy protest against the Holi-Drag Storytime in Columbus, Ohio, and counter protesters protecting the event.

Protesters against Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill

Link to article

I would also like to add that unlike the 1st Lavender Scare, this is not just an American phenomenon but part of a clear and roughly coordinated multinational right-wing movement and is presenting just as prevalently in the UK (albeit in a slightly different form). It is dangerous to leave this reactionary movement unstated and unnamed, lest is become normalized.

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nasty-giraffe · 5 months

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Remember when in S3E1 Eskild, Isak and Linn are FaceTiming with Noora and Eskild mentions that Noora smells like lovely lavender? Later in S3E5 Eskild gives Isak a room freshener that has lavender smell. In their following discussion about being a homosexual Isak lists things he thinks are a part of Eskild’s homopakke and one thing is talking about a lavender smell.

Coincidence or a brilliant reminder of Julie Andem’s attention to detail, again?

In 1950 in USA there was a moral panic about homosexuals and it was called The Lavender Scare. Read more in Wikipedia:

I know Julie Andem is a genious but it still strikes me every time I find more little details inside Skam. How was she able to add so much meaningfulness and intertextual references to the 20 minute episodes without making them bloated with content?

Brilliant.

Link to the Skam manuscript, the famous dialogue between Isak and Eskild can be found on the page 7:

I found about The Lavender Scare while watching Fellow travelers and reading about Mccarthism. Who dares to say that entertainment doesn’t educate?

#skam #skam norway #julie andem #lavender #the lavender scare #fellow travelers #isak valtersen #eskild tryggvason

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meret118 · 11 months

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In 1953, President Eisenhower declared gay men and lesbians to be a threat to the security of the country and therefore unfit for government service. In doing so, he triggered the longest witch hunt in American history. Over the next four decades, tens of thousands of government workers would lose their jobs for no reason other than their sexual orientation. But the actions of the government had an unintended effect. They inadvertently helped ignite the gay rights movement.

In 1957, after thousands had lost their jobs, a Harvard-trained astronomer named Frank Kameny became the first person to fight his dismissal. His attempts to regain his job evolved into a lifelong fight for the rights of LGBTQ people.

The Lavender Scare is a compelling story of one man’s fight for justice. And it is a chilling reminder of how easy it can be, during a time of fear and uncertainty, to trample the rights of an entire class of people in the name of patriotism and national security.

youtube

#The lavender scare #Queer #History #Youtube

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actually-a-dyke · 2 years

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The Homophobic Hysteria of the Lavender Scare by Dorian Alexander and Kazimir Lee, May 31, 2019.

#gay #lgbtq #queer #lgbt #lgbt pride #lgbtqplus #lgbt history #queer community #queer history #gay history #lgbtqia #queer stuff #gay interest #the lavender scare #lavender scare #dorian alexander #kazimir Lee #gay art #lgbt art

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coffeeandacig · 2 years

Video

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M*A*S*H’s Revolutionary Gay Episode

#youtube #mash #m*a*s*h #m*a*s*h 4077 #mash 4077 #homosexuality #military #the lavender scare #hawkeye pierce #frank burns

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spotsandloops · 1 year

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Well, @NASA said “Happy LGBTQSTEMDay!” by announcing that they’ve decided to keep the name of JWST. James Webb was the administrator of NASA during the Apollo era, but also while the agency was firing queer folks simply for being queer. Based on the press release and the introduction to the full report, they’ve decided to take a very narrow question of whether there is “evidence [that] directly links Webb to any actions or follow-up related to the firing of individuals for their sexual orientation”. Never mind that Webb wasn’t directly responsible for Apollo, either, he was overseeing the entire agency. It happened under his watch. He knew it was going on when he was Undersecretary of State. That it was supposedly “unremarkable” at the time does not excuse him from responsibility.

As a queer woman in astronomy, it continues to be deeply hurtful that NASA will not acknowledge that they screwed up when naming JWST. The naming didn’t follow standard procedures, nor did it involve international partners. Furthermore, NASA has used this opportunity to bully queer astronomers and journalists, including at least one queer person of color.

ETA: Good new article from Nature, too

#sometimes I hate that they're one of the only places I can get research funding #I want to love NASA so much and then shit like this happens #NASA #space #lgbtq #the lavender scare #james webb #JWST #RenameJWST

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gwydionmisha · 3 months

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#The Lavender Scare #Queer History #US History

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alanshemper · 5 months

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“If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, you’ve got to be either a Communist or a cocksucker.”

—Sen. Joe McCarthy, helpfully explaining how the red scare and the lavender scare intersected with each other

#mccarthyism #red scare #lavender scare #tag yourself #500 #1k

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just-a-rainy-child · 2 years

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I LOOVE LESBIAN HISTORY I NEED MORE OF THIS SHIT

#The lavender scare #etc etc #Icant think of other names now but I know other lesbian history

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commanders-sole-braincell · 1 month

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Do you think certain scented sylvari have to combat the pavlovian reaction to their scent?

Like lavender sylvari adapting shouting and wearing the most noisy, obnoxious jewellery cuz they walk into a room and half the people in there start to drift from using lavender sleep aids?

#Sylvari #Gw2 #Inspired by my lovely mam buying me tons of lavender and other pagan sleep and life aids #It's so lush but also I'm now scared to eat parma violets incase my brain goes SLEEP SMELL and I pass out #I've put way too much sleep oil on me and tbh it's all gunning for my ass cheeks #I have ibs I do not want that part of the body relaxing

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b3y0ndm3asur3 · 4 months

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mike from mike’s mic is watching fellow travelers and if he makes a video on it i will scream

#fellow travelers #tim laughlin #hawkins fuller #matt bomer #jonathan bailey #mike’s mic #had an inkling he was watching it after showing a google search of the lavender scare #pls pls pls let him make a video on it #and if you haven’t seen his glee or pll videos i highly recommend

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royaltea000 · 2 months

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You ever read a fic so good it changes the whole characterization of the dude in your head

#Anyway read Hedonism by an unfortunately orphaned account on ao3 #this art doesn’t have anything to do with it but I was thinking about it the whole time #It’s America x Romano set in the Lavender Scare and their characterization of Romano is So Good #I could practically see the dude in my head moving exactly how they wrote #Good Shit 🤌#chronic pain ‘mano my beloved #I don’t know why my art style was so feminine tonight I was meaning to draw him much manlier but my hand did something else #Still slaying tho #digital art #my art #commissions open #artists on tumblr #Proud of this pose I did it myself :D #Also gave me a bad nightmare of a mean Twitter account qrting my art and calling it shit and so many people agreed and it hurt my feelings #:’(#hetalia #hetalia fanart #hetalia world stars #hws romano #aph romano #aph south italy #hws south italy #romano vargas

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actually-a-dyke · 2 years

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The Lavender Scare was a moral panic about homosexuals in the US government. People suspected of being gay were fired from their government jobs because it was believed they were a national security risk during the red scare. It was believed that many gay people were mentally ill and therefore susceptible to communism, they were also more likely to be targets of blackmail by communists. This normalized the persecution of homosexuals in the late 40s and 50s. As a result, the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis were formed. The Exutive Order made during this time stayed in effect until the 90s, and was completely repealed in 2017 by Barrack Obama.