Big cities were safe havens for the queer communities of America during the early 1900s. While many people stayed secret and isolated in rural areas, according to Before Stonewall: The Making of A Gay and Lesbian Community, others moved to the city and used the vibrant nightlife to create a place of culture and shared experience. Parties in basements and other private areas were common, where gays and lesbians could network, meet potential romantic partners or friends, and build support systems.

            Allen Ginsberg, a gay rights advocate and leading author of the Beat Generation, once said that the World War II era created a major shift in the culture.

            First, women flocked to cities to fill jobs left behind by the men who went to war and the underground lesbian scene flourished. Then, as the war ended and former servicemen and women were left in big coast cities around the country, underground bars specifically catering to gays and lesbians grew even more popular. New York, San Francisco and New Orleans are homes to the oldest gay bars in history, which were, non-consequentially, also home to plenty of servicemen and women during and after the war.

            The country was on the brink of a controversial sexual awakening. This coincided with America’s growing fear of communism and the rise of McCarthyism. As a result, Executive Order 10450 exploded onto the scene on the heels of the Red Scare.

            According to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the “Lavender Scare” was a witch hunt to remove all homosexuals from governmental positions. It was preached that homosexuals were risks to national security because they could be blackmailed over their sexuality and/or were communist sympathizers. Suspected homosexuals lost their jobs and many others were fired for knowing people who were LGBTQ. By 1953, the same year the E.O. was signed, it was reported that the State Department had fired 425 employees.

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            Peter Shinkle, former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, published a book in December of 2018 which tells the story of Robert "Bobby" Cutler Jr., who was a major character in the writing and execution of E.O. 10450. Cutler, a close adviser to President Eisenhower and a special assistant for national security affairs, was a closeted homosexual.

            Cutler was the one to suggest including “sexual perversion” in the language of the executive order. In the end, this order would lead to the ruined lives of over a thousand queer - or accused-as - individuals and the destruction of the safety of the nightclub scene in the LGBTQ community.