Executive Order 10450
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, – May 2, ) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. senator from Wisconsin from until his death in Beginning sometime in , after the second world war was well concluded, there became a widespread belief that "homosexuals" would be security risks because it was believed they were sympathetic to communism and that there existed the potential to blackmail them over their "hidden lifestyles". In July of , President Truman would setup a Personnel Security Board to rule on dismissing employees accused of being "security risks" in the State Department. 
McCarthyism, the Lavender Scare, and the fight for full LGBT
ONE OF THE LOW POINTS in American history was in the early ’s when Senator Joseph McCarthy successfully fueled and exploited Americans’ fear and paranoia about secret governmental conspiracies, launching witch hunts to expose allegedly subversive infiltrators and Communists within the U.S. government. A lesser known part of the story is the critical role that a same-sex male. A lesser known part of the story is the critical role that a same-sex male relationship, almost certainly a sexual one, played in bringing the crisis of McCarthyism to a head and, in the end, silencing the senator. That scrap of paper, by the way, was apparently his laundry receipt.
Joseph McCarthy
How did Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anticommunist rhetoric impact the LGBTQ community? He referred to “loyalty risks,” including not only communists but also others he believed could be compromised. In his view, LGBTQ people were among them, and thousands were removed or barred from government employment as a result. On December 15, , the Hoey committee released this report, concluding that homosexuals were "unsuitable for employment in the Federal Government" and constituted "security risks in positions of public trust. Senate, RG 
Lavender Scare
Enter Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose rhetoric explicitly associated Communists and gay people, turning the slow burn of repression into a firestorm. On February 9, , McCarthy delivered his now-famous speech in which he claimed to have a list of known Communists working at the State Department. Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
The irony of Joe McCarthy – Will Wright
Furthermore, homosexuals were “morally bankrupt”, and therefore “generally unsuitable” for government work. With McCarthy's impetus, in , a moral panic surrounding the subject of homosexuality swept across federal agencies. The surge in paranoia and ensuing witch hunts resulted in what is known as the Lavender Scare. The Lavender scare happened during the s when the U. The widespread fear of communism within the U. McCarthyism (USA)
A protagonist in this postwar environment of fear and anxiety was a senator named Joseph McCarthy, who ascended in politics through lies and slander, and became most famous for his relentless persecution of 'infiltrated' communists, liberals, and dissenters. Assisting the senator in his crusade was a legal infrastructure previously laid out by committees who had taken the cause before him, the. . How Did Joseph McCarthy’s Anticommunist Rhetoric Impact the
The era of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the United States, representing the State of Wisconsin was notable for his persecution of gay communities and the firing of LGBTQIA+ individuals in federal agencies in the USA. Beginning sometime in , after the second world war was well concluded, there became a widespread belief that "homosexuals" would be security risks because it was believed they. . 
“These People Are Frightened to Death”
A second critical moment occurred three years later in February when a relatively young and brash US Republican Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, provocatively claimed in a speech in. .