Ep 26: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Gay Mafia?

Have you heard that the gay mafia is running Hollywood? Well any disenfranchised straight guy in the entertainment industry will tell you about it. Hyperbole aside, the gay mafia is a running joke/ urban legend that keeps popping up in pop culture. Where is this idea coming from? As much fun as it is to imagine a West Side Story-esque take on The Godfather, there's actually a historical source for this idea that is less than humorous. Everyone knows about the Red Scare, but two shades lighter and just a hair more to the left there was a scare of equal importance. Join us this week as we examine the true story of the Lavender Scare; and explore the ways in which high-powered historical figures like J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy left lasting scars on the LGBTQ Rights cause in America.