That was a societal problem, not the evil government. Homosexuality wasn’t a problem in itself, it was that if an employee was found to be gay, they could be blackmailed into giving up secrets. Being outed could ruin your life.
Similarly, the government doesn’t hate people with awful credit scores, but that indicates someone not doing well financially who may be open to being paid for secrets.
Cops and local governments, that’s a different deal.
I don’t know about the US, but in many European countries, gay sex, at least male-male, was considered as a criminal offence not even until so long ago.
This was not solely a government problem - however, the Lavender Scare was part and parcel of an increased hostility towards LGBT folk in the government, specifically.
That was a societal problem, not the evil government. Homosexuality wasn’t a problem in itself, it was that if an employee was found to be gay, they could be blackmailed into giving up secrets. Being outed could ruin your life.
Similarly, the government doesn’t hate people with awful credit scores, but that indicates someone not doing well financially who may be open to being paid for secrets.
Cops and local governments, that’s a different deal.
I don’t know about the US, but in many European countries, gay sex, at least male-male, was considered as a criminal offence not even until so long ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBTQ_rights_by_country_or_territory
The timeline is really worth having a look at.
This was not solely a government problem - however, the Lavender Scare was part and parcel of an increased hostility towards LGBT folk in the government, specifically.
That’s why I added the last sentence.