Karen Graves’ And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Florida’s Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers focuses on the Florida purge of gay and lesbians during the Cold War. Graves (2009) argues that the oppression of gay and lesbians was more prominent than the Cold War eradication due to the scope and investigation of teachers that was unparalleled in American history. Graves (2009) argues that teachers, more than other gays and lesbians were prosecuted during this time. Graves (2009) proves her argument by comparing the treatment of gay and lesbian teachers to university faculty and civil rights activists and the discrepancy with these groups during interrogations and treatment by the Johns Committee. During the Cold War, America wanted to contain …show more content…
It moved to taking down homosexual teachers when they realized they could not defeat the NAACP (Graves, 2009). According to Graves (2009), the Johns Committee was known for infringing on constitutional rights and eluding public accountability. Teachers were taken in closed sessions without any legal counsel, and no support to help them during their investigations because professional organizations were collaborating with the Committee (Graves, 2009). Graves (2009) mentions organizations like the Department of Education and the Florida Education Association joining the investigation. The removal of teaching credentials was done by inconclusive evidence, rumors, and being guilty by association (Graves, 2009). If teachers went to court, the sodomy laws used to arrest teachers were ambiguous, therefore any act could constitute sexual crime so they would risk prosecution (Graves, 2009). Graves (2009) argues that teachers had no legal resources and the Johns Committee exploited that fact. This is significant because Graves argues that the reason this purge was the worst was because of how the Johns Committee conducted interviews and the state supported them. The Johns Committee investigated covertly, which allowed for no defense and abuse of