this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
143 points (100.0% liked)

LGBTQ+

3013 readers
188 users here now

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] homesweethomeMrL 31 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Really annoyed they’re downshifting to “McCarthyism”.

Yes it’s arguable, no it’s not as effective as “fascism”.

[–] dariusj18 1 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I would argue it is not McCarthyism. McCarthyism would he specifically using people's political ideologies as a metric, whereas sexuality is a personal private thing that would have absolutely no effect on the ability to do a job. At least McCarthyism has some way to claim that "commie" is actively working against the interests of the US.

[–] idiomaddict 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

After the extremely damaging "Cambridge Five" spy scandal (Guy BurgessDonald MacleanKim PhilbyAnthony Blunt and John Cairncross), suspected homosexuality was also a common cause for being targeted by McCarthyism. The hunt for "sexual perverts", who were presumed to be subversive by nature, resulted in over 5,000 federal workers being fired, and thousands were harassed and denied employment.[88][89] Many have termed this aspect of McCarthyism the "lavender scare".[90][91]

From the wiki on McCarthyism

[–] dariusj18 1 points 2 days ago

Interesting. I had always understood McCarthyism as only the red scare, and I assumed it was how it was always used.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)