The Lavender Scare in NASA Originated by James Webb
James Webb, the former head of NASA, has been accused of complicity in the Lavender Scare. But it’s not that simple, argues author Jamie Kirchick. | NASA | ||
Late last year, NASA announced that the James Webb Space Telescope would keep its name, despite criticism from some scientists who painted the former head of the administration as complicit in the Lavender Scare, a purge of gay employees from government roles that began in 1947. According to James Kirchick, author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington, NASA made the right decision. “No matter how well-intentioned, to single out a bureaucrat like James Webb for the Lavender Scare would accomplish the opposite of what it intends by minimizing just how vast and ruthless was our country’s policy of anti-gay discrimination — a policy so vast and ruthless that it mandated the outlay of massive amounts of money and manpower in a whole-of-government effort aimed at firing patriotic and highly-educated employees just because of whom they loved,” he writes.
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