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A Glimpse at the History of the U.S. LGBTQ Community Part 2 by Valerie

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A Glimpse at the History of the U.S. LGBTQ Community Part 2 by Valerie A glimpse at the history of the U.S. LGBTQ community Part 2 by Valerie Etienne-Leveille The Red Scare is known as a period in history during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States where American leaders repeatedly shared with the public that they should be fearful of subversive Communist influence in their lives (1)(2). The Red Scare movement intensified in the early 1950s because it was shared with the American public that Communist agents could be holding positions in many sectors such as teachers, college professors, labor organizers, artists, and journalists. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin was responsible for creating a toxic climate of fear and suspicion across the country through series of investigations into alleged Communist penetration of the State Department, the White House, the Treasury, and the U.S. Army. With the fear of appearing weak on the subversive communist issue, President Dwight Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450 on April 27th, 1953 (3). The Executive Order, among other things, banned gay individuals from working for the federal government or any of its private contractors and it listed them as security risks along with alcoholics and neurotics. This order intensified the “Lavender Scare” which was the interrogation and firing of LGBTQ- identifying civil servants (4). Gay men and lesbians were identified to be communist sympathizers and dangerous security risks (5). Suspected gay individuals were interviewed, given lie detector tests, and surveilled for signs of gender non-conformity. Examples of newspaper articles on the firing of suspected gay individuals during the “Lavender Scare” era (5). It is estimated that at least ten thousand accused gay civil servants lost their jobs because of Executive Order 10450. Many of the federal investigations and resulting firings led to some employees’ suicides since these employees were publicly outed as well, and it was impossible for them to be hired anywhere else (4)(5). Most of these suicide deaths were later covered up by the federal investigators. Gay rights protesters outside of the White House in 1965 (6). Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images VALERIE ETIENNE-LEVEILLE 1 On December 21st, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that partly repealed Executive Order 10450 by allowing gay and lesbian individuals to serve in the U.S. Military (7). With this policy, individuals were not asked of their sexual orientation during enlistment screening but if it was discovered or assumed that the individual was gay, he or she was released from the military. On December 10th, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the order repealing the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. The order stated that gay individuals could serve openly in the U.S. Military. On June 30th,2016, Secretary of Defense Carter announced that the Pentagon was lifting the ban on transgender people serving openly in the U.S. Military. On June 30th,2017, the U.S. Department of Defense announced a six-month delay in allowing transgendered individuals to enlist in the U.S. Military. On March 23rd, 2018, the Trump administration announced a new policy that banned most transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. Military. After several court battles, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its new military policy on transgender individuals. In April 2019, the ban blocked openly transgender individuals from joining the U.S. Military. The ban also impacted the thousands of transgender troops who were currently serving in the U.S. Military (8). On January 25th,2021, President Joseph Biden signed an executive order repealing the Trump’s administration ban on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. Military. The signed executive order allowed for all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform and prohibited service members from being discharged or denied reenlistment for their gender identity (9). References 1. Millercenter.org. (n.d.). McCarthyism And the Red Scare. https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/age-of- eisenhower/mcarthyism-red-scare 2. History.com. (2020, February 28). Red Scare. A&E Television Networks. https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/red-scare 3. CNN Editorial Research. (2021, March 25). LGBTQ Rights Milestones Fast Facts. https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/lgbt-rights- milestones-fast-facts/index.html 4. Gleason, J. (2017, October 3). LGBT History: The Lavender Scare. National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. https://www.nglcc.org/blog/lgbt-history-lavender-scare 5. Worldqueerstory.org. (n.d.). Category: Executive Order 10450 Lavender Scare. https://worldqueerstory.org/category/laws- queerness/executive-order-10450/ 6. Blakemore, E. (2019, October 10). How LGBT Civil Servants Became Public Enemy No. 1 in the 1950s. A&E Television Networks. https://www.history.com/news/state-department-gay-employees-outed-fired-lavender-scare 7. Drury University. (n.d.). Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month. https://www.drury.edu/diversity/celebrating-lgbtq-history-month 8. American Oversight.org. (2021, January 25). The Trump Administration’s Transgender Military Ban. https://www.americanoversight.org/investigation/trump-administrations-transgender-military-ban 9. Detrow, S. (2021, January 25). Biden Repeals Trump-Era Ban on Transgender Troops. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/sections/president-biden-takes-office/2021/01/25/960338217/biden-repeals-trump-era-ban-on-transgender- soldiers VALERIE ETIENNE-LEVEILLE 2 .
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