Name: The Lavender Scare Film Screening and Talkback
Start: 2025-11-13T19:00:00+00:00
Location: Edlavitch DC JCC (EDCJCC)

Location

Edlavitch DC JCC (EDCJCC)
1529 16th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20036

Tickets

Member: $11
General: $16
Student: $13

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Learn the history of the Lavender Scare—featured in LGBTJews in the Federal City—with a thought-provoking film screening about the federal government’s campaign to identify and fire all employees suspected of being homosexual. (1h 17min)

In partnership with JxJ: DC Jewish Film + Music. The Film Screening will be held at the Edlavitch DC JCC

*The CJM member discount code for this program differs from the code word on your membership card. Please call 202-525-2250 or email [email protected] to receive the code.

The Lavender Scare is the first documentary film to tell the little-known story of an unrelenting campaign by the federal government to identify and fire all employees suspected of being homosexual.

In 1953, President Eisenhower declared gay men and lesbians to be a threat to the security of the country and therefore unfit for government service. In doing so, he triggered the longest witch hunt in American history. Over the next four decades, tens of thousands of government workers would lose their jobs for no reason other than their sexual orientation.

But the actions of the government had an unintended effect. They inadvertently helped ignite the gay rights movement.

In 1957, after thousands had lost their jobs, a Harvard-trained astronomer named Frank Kameny became the first person to fight his dismissal. His attempts to regain his job evolved into a lifelong fight for the rights of LGBTQ people.

The Lavender Scare is a compelling story of one man’s fight for justice. And it is a chilling reminder of how easy it can be, during a time of fear and uncertainty, to trample the rights of an entire class of people in the name of patriotism and national security.

“The touching finale leaves you with a sense of resiliency.”- San Francisco Chronicle

“Fascinating and horrifying — and timely.” – The New York Times

Image Credit: Image courtesy of Full Exposure Films