"We have information that you are a homosexual.

What do you have to say in your defense?"

That's the question investigators asked countless

U.S. government workers in a forty-year campaign to remove

gay men and lesbians

from the federal workforce.

​

Careers were destroyed

and lives were ruined.

 And then, from a community under siege, a hero stepped forward.

The Lavender Scare is the first documentary film to tell the little-known story of an unrelenting campaign by the federal government to identify and fire all employees suspected of being homosexual.

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 LGBT 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.

“A must-see for anyone – especially LGBTQ viewers who want to learn more about their roots.  This film belongs on LGBTQ studies syllabi nationwide.”

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