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Who is James Webb? NASA admin was accused of role in horrifying 'Lavender Scare'

Reports allege James Webb's involvement in persecuting gay and lesbian people during his stint with NASA as head from 1961 to 1968

As the recent NASA images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope have stunned the world, the same flagship observatory was in question last year whether to be renamed after reports came to attention alleging James E Webb's involvement in persecuting gay and lesbian people during his stint with NASA as head from 1961 to 1968. And now, with the newly released pictures showing the telescope’s ability to take long-range images of galaxy clusters across space, astronomers have called for its renaming once again.

Taking the views to Twitter, an assistant professor of physics at the University of New Hampshire, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein said, "Some thoughts on the journey to #RenameJWST, the #JWST_HST_SciVI, and the total coincidence of my TED talk coming out today. As one of the people who has been leading the push to change the name, today feels bittersweet. I’m so excited for the new images and so angry at NASA HQ." She continued in the thread by saying, "NASA leadership has stubbornly refused to acknowledge that what is now public info about JW’s legacy means he does not merit having a Great Observatory named after him. This is the Biden administration’s decision, and I hope everyone remembers that tonight. #JWST_HST_SciVI"

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The renaming debate

In March 2021, astronomers Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Sarat Tuttle and Lucianne Walkowicz shared their thoughts on Scientific American over the renaming of James Webb Space Telescope. The three criticized NASA’s plan to launch the instrument while carrying the name of a man “whose legacy at best is complicated and at worst reflects complicity in homophobic discrimination in the federal government”. They further wrote, "When he arrived at NASA in 1961, his leadership role meant he was in part responsible for implementing what was by then federal policy: the purging of LGBT individuals from the workforce. When he was at State, this policy was enforced by those who worked under him. As early as 1950, he was aware of this policy, which was a forerunner to the antigay witch hunt known today as the lavender scare." And continue by saying, "Historian David K Johnson's 2004 book on the subject, The Lavender Scare, discusses archival evidence indicating that Webb, along with others in State Department leadership, was involved in Senate discussions that ultimately kicked off a devastating series of federal policies."

The history of Lavender Scare

According to The Lavender Scare, in 1953, President Eisenhower declared gay men and lesbians to be a threat to the security of the country and therefore unfit for government service. One such case was of NASA’s Clifford Norton, reported the Guardian. Norton was fired in 1963 for “immoral, indecent, and disgraceful conduct” after being interrogated for allegedly being a homosexual man.

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Petition filed urging NASA to rename telescope

Urging NASA to rename the telescope, a petition was filed by researchers and astronomy enthusiasts. So far, it has collected over 1,700 signatures. The petition reads, "For the past several years, many of us have raised objections to the choice of James Webb as this telescope’s namesake. Those in favor of naming the telescope for Webb celebrate his tenure as NASA administrator during the Apollo era. However, prior to serving as the NASA Administrator, Webb served as the Undersecretary of State during the purge of queer people from government service known as the 'Lavender Scare'. Archival evidence clearly indicates that Webb was in high-level conversations regarding the creation of this policy and resulting actions."