Letter: Hoover's sexuality
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: The confirmation of J. Edgar Hoover's secret homosexuality (6 February) comes as no surprise. It reinforces the view that those who are most vociferously anti-gay are often themselves closeted, self- hating homosexuals. Hoover was, it seems, a classic example of a repressed gay man who could not come to terms with his own sexual orientation, and who used homophobia as a smoke screen to cover up his own homosexuality.
To compensate for his sense of guilt and shame, and to deter suspicion and gossip, Hoover made a point of ostentatiously persecuting other homosexuals. His purges of 'faggots' (his word) from the State Department and armed forces during the McCarthy era wrecked the careers of thou-
sands of distinguished lesbians and gay men. Some ended up in prison; others were driven to
suicide.
That the Mafia used Hoover's homosexuality to compromise the FBI's fight against organised crime serves to highlight the social destructiveness of homophobia. It is prejudice which encourages secrecy and leaves covert lesbians and gay men open to blackmail. Only when society fully accepts homosexual people will those with a same-sex orientation feel able to come out and thereby no longer be vulnerable to compromise.
It is a lesson we in Britain ought to bear in mind when we hear the homophobic outpourings of MPs, judges, tabloid journalists, bishops and police chiefs. Among them are hypocrites responsible for some of the worst victimisation of the lesbian and gay community.
Yours faithfully,
PETER TATCHELL
London, SE1
6 February
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments