The More Things Change, the More They Stay The Same

Kent forwarded this article to me. I was struck by how much everything is the same from so long ago. I remember the purging of the communists from the country, in both society at large, and Hollywood. I also knew of all the spying on various groups that were trying to “destroy” the United States, and that members of these groups were called “subversives”.

Today, little has changed, except perhaps some creative use of terminology. Now, homosexuals are called “radical homosexuals” who “prey” on “innocent children”. Yeah, that will get people pissed off. Who cares if it’s true or not. Just like it was so true that the communists and homosexuals were trying to destroy the country in the 1950’s.

The resignation of Kirk Fordham, openly gay former chief of staff to Foley and current chief of staff to Rep. Reynolds, seemed only to whet conservatives’ appetites. Labeling them “operatives” who had managed to “infiltrate and manipulate the party apparatus,” right-wing author Cliff Kincaid demanded that “the secret Capitol Hill homosexual network must be exposed and dismantled.” Calling them “subversives” thwarting the will of the people, the American Family Association’s Rev. Don Wildmon told The Nation, “they oughta fire every one of ’em.” The Traditional Values Coalition issued an ultimatum to their party: “Republicans need to make a simple choice between the [sic] innocent children and radical homosexuals who prey on them.”

Charges of a powerful gay network, a subversive fifth column that has “infiltrated” the party, are nothing new. In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy charged that Harry Truman’s State Department had been “infiltrated” by subversives, a category that initially included both communists and homosexuals. However, McCarthy quickly discovered that the charges of homosexual infiltration were more effective at stirring up indignation among voters. Though histories of the McCarthy era rarely mention it, three-quarters of McCarthy’s mail expressed outrage at his disclosures of “sex depravity.” Truman’s advisors warned that “the country is really much more disturbed over the picture which has been presented so far of the Government being loaded with homosexuals than it is over the clamor about Communists in the Government,” and the State Department’s admission that it had fired 91 homosexuals seemed to substantiate McCarthy’s charges. With a midterm election approaching, Republicans attacked the Democrats for “harboring” homosexuals. They followed the advice of New York Daily News editors, who wrote, “If we were writing Republican campaign speeches, we’d use the word ‘queer’ at every opportunity.” (source)

Well, let us hope that even the Republicans won’t stoop to the level of using “queer” at every opportunity. But nothing would surprise me with that party, the way they are today. I give my fellow Americans of today a bit more credit than that though. That tactic may have worked in the 1950’s, but today, “queer” just isn’t as queer as it used to be - nor as threatening. After all, every family has a queer or two... or three, and when you start smearing people with the word queer, it’s no longer a stretch for people to say, “Hey wait a minute! You are talking about my brother here!” That is what they will take to the voting booth with them.

If I were advising the Republicans, and actually had their best interests at heart, I’d advise them to proceed very carefully along these lines. And I’m not just saying that because I’m.... queer.