The Lavender Scare

A new edition of a classic work of history, revealing the anti-homosexual purges of midcentury Washington. The basis for the acclaimed PBS documentary.

In The Lavender Scare, David K. Johnson tells the frightening story of how, during the Cold War, homosexuals were considered as dangerous a threat to national security as Communists. Charges that the Roosevelt and Truman administrations were havens for homosexuals proved a potent political weapon, sparking a “Lavender Scare” more vehement and long-lasting than Joseph McCarthy’s Red Scare. Drawing on declassified documents, years of research in the records of the National Archives and the FBI, and interviews with former civil servants, Johnson recreates the vibrant gay subculture that flourished in midcentury Washington and takes us inside the security interrogation rooms where anti-homosexual purges ruined the lives and careers of thousands of Americans. This enlarged edition of Johnson’s classic work of history—the winner of numerous awards and the basis for an acclaimed documentary broadcast on PBS—features a new epilogue, bringing the still-relevant story into the twenty-first century.

“David Johnson’s engrossing study of the persecution of gays and lesbians during the Cold War, complete with a comprehensive picture of the gay culture that flourished in Washington, is an important addition to a subject all too often ignored.” —Dallas Morning News

“A heart-wrenching reminder that homosexuals faced brutal employment discrimination and endless police hostility.” —Los Angeles Times

“Detailed, accurate, fair-minded [it] deserves to stand on the shelf next to The Great Fear by David Caute and should be studied by everyone who is interested in the McCarthy era and its implications.” —Times Literary Supplement