PERSECUTING HOMOSEXUALS
The most ironic thing is that many of those who started identifying homosexuals and firing them during scandals that would end their lives were also homosexuals themselves. Among these, there was Senator Joseph McCarthy, Edgar Hoover, and David Shine, among many others. This last one, who was a Greek god because of his beauty, not only exposed them but also tempted them to discover them. The case that supposedly proved the danger was that of Alger Hiss, who was homosexual and worked for American security in the 1930s. He was accused of espionage, fired, and sentenced to five years in prison.
He was accused of sharing secrets because the Russians blackmailed him.
The exposure and persecution of homosexuality would have disastrous consequences for the whole world. The first Undersecretary of State and respon-sible for Latin America, Summer Welles, would be the first victim. On a train trip to a congressman’s funeral, the diplomat requested to have sex with the black porters. They accused him, and then his enemies, mainly his boss Cordell Hull, who envied him for his abilities, fired him. The same would happen to Richard Jenkis, advisor, and close friend of Lyndon B. Johnson, who was caught having sex in the YMCA 136
bathrooms. Although the man was married and had six children, his political life was ruined forever, and he had to flee the capital.
Every time a homosexual was found near the president, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, they would distance themselves, either allowing them to be fired or asking for their resignation. Eisenhower did it with Arthur Vandenberg29.
Before Christmas 1952, Edgar Hoover said that the person who would be appointed Secretary of State and friend was homosexual, which led him, for “health reasons,” to resign. Reagan, for example, did not hesitate to get rid of Sandy Quinn and Phil Battaglia, both advisors in Sacramento. They were accused of participating in an orgy in Lake Tahoe. Jack Kemp was there, who would be investigated all his life. Nancy, Reagan’s wife, was the only one who maintained her friendship with them and continued to support them.
However, when Rock Hudson contracted AIDS and publicly came out of the closet, the Reagans distanced themselves. In his condolence note for his death, the president crossed out the word “friend” so that no one would think anything about their relationship. Nixon 29 Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg Sr. (March 22, 1884 – April 18, 1951) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1928 to 1951. A member of the Republican Party, he participated in the creation of the United Nations. He is best known for leading the Republican Party from a foreign policy of iso-lationism to one of internationalism, and supporting the Cold War, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO. He served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate from 1947 to 1949.