Monday, May 22, 2017

LGBTQ History Activity for Social Studies

This lesson plan activity on the Lavender Scare of the 1950's is excellent for incorporating LGBT your Cold War unit!


The downloadable activity includes an article on the history of the "Lavender Scare". This period of fear and paranoia in the United States coincided with the Red Scare and saw thousands of government employees lose their jobs for being homosexual.

The article details how Senator Joseph McCarthy - of McCarthyism infamy - connected homosexuality to communism and un-American activities.

Soon after, newly elected President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450, which led to a crackdown on homosexuality throughout the government and government contractors. The article goes on to connect the scare through to President Clinton's repeal of it and his "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and finally President Obama's repeal of that.

After the article is reading comprehension activity with a worksheet and questions designed to help students think critically about what they learned.  This includes an answer key for your convenience.

Finally, this activity concludes with an extension activity with links to primary sources for students to analyze. These can be used for a collaborative learning activity with students delving into the Congressional reports, Executive Orders, and documents mentioned in the article.

You can download this great LGBTQ activity here.

Thanks so much for checking this out!

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