From 'Lavender Scare' To Transgender Troops, The Long And Ugly History Of Federal Exclusion

10:37

August 04, 2017

Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wisc.) testifies in Washington, March 8, 1950, before a Senate foreign relations subcommittee named to hear his charges that Communists have infiltrated the State Department. McCarthyism gave rise to a wave of anti-LGBT discrimination in government known as the "lavender scare." (Herbert K. White/AP)

This article is more than 5 years old.

President Trump's tweets last week that transgender service members would no longer be allowed in the military were met with both outrage and approval. For many, including former military leaders and LGBTQ rights advocates, the tweets were a step backward in time.

Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson talks with historians Brian Balogh (@historyfellow) and Nathan Connolly (@ndbconnolly) about the long — and often ugly — history of the relationship between the federal government and issues of gender and sexuality.

Balogh and Connolly are co-hosts of the podcast BackStory, which is produced at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

This segment aired on August 4, 2017.

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