“Not Everybody Who’s Peculiar Is Insane”: The Lavender Scare in Girl in the Goldfish Bowl

Cynthia Sugars

Articles

Vol. 49 No. 1 (2024): Special Issue Staging Strategies: Trends in Canadian Drama and Performing Arts

“Not Everybody Who’s Peculiar Is Insane”: The Lavender Scare in Girl in the Goldfish Bowl

Cynthia Sugars^▸^▾

Requires Subscription PDF

Submitted: June 17, 2025
Published: 2025-06-24

References

Baldor, Lolita C. “Trump Aims to Push Transgender Troops Out of the Military.” PBS News, 31 Jan. 2025, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-aims-to-push-transgendertroops-out-of-the-military-identifying-people-will-be-complicated.
Beauchamp, Toby. Going Stealth: Transgender Politics and U.S. Surveillance Practices. Duke UP, 2019.
Blakemore, Erin. “Gay Conversion Therapy’s Disturbing 19th-Century Origins.” History, 22 June 2018, updated 23 Aug. 2023, www.history.com/news/gay-conversion-therapyorigins-19th-century#:~:text=JUNE%2022%2C%202018-,copied,-.
Blint-Welsh, Tyler, and Melanie Grayce West. “New York City Moves to Repeal Ban on Conversion Therapy.” Wall Street Journal, 12 Sept. 2019. Proquest, www.proquest.com/docview/2289038716/fulltext/D251FBA17D754146PQ/1?accountid=14701&sourcetype=Newspapers.
Chenier, Elise. “Aversion Therapy.” GLBTQ Archives, 2004, www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/aversion_therapy_S.pdf.
“‘Conversion Therapy’ Can Amount to Torture and Should Be Banned Says UN Expert.” United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner, 13 July 2020, www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2020/07/conversion-therapy-can-amount-torture-and-should-bebanned-says-un-expert.
Davidmann, Sara. “Beyond Borders: Lived Experiences of Atypically Gendered Transsexual People.” Transgender Identities: Towards a Social Analysis of Gender Diversity, edited by Sally Hines and Tam Sanger, Routledge, 2010, pp. 186-203.
Davison, Kate. “Cold War Pavlov: Homosexual Aversion Therapy in the 1960s.” History of the Human Sciences, vol. 34, no. 1, 2021, pp. 89-119. Sage Journals, journals-sagepubcom.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/doi/epub/10.1177/0952695120911593.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual: Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association, 1952, https://www.turkpsikiyatri.org/arsiv/dsm-1952.pdf.
Dirks, Stanley J. “Aversion Therapy: Its Limited Potential for Use in the Correctional Setting.” Stanford Law Review, vol. 26, no. 6, 1974, pp. 1327-41.
Exit thru the Gift Shop. “Provincial Hospital for the Insane.” YouTube, 11 May 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=gm7i5n6vIEk.
Fingerhut, Hannah. “In Iowa and Elsewhere, Bans on Widely Discredited ‘Conversion Therapy’ Become a Conservative Target.” PBS News, 25 Aug. 2023, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-iowa-and-elsewhere-bans-on-widely-discredited-conversiontherapy-become-a-conservative-target.
Fodey, Sarah, writer and director. The Fruit Machine. SandBay Entertainment, 2018. “The Fruit Machine.” SandBay Entertainment, www.sandbayentertainment.com/the-fruitmachine.
Halberstam, Judith [Jack]. In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives. New York UP, 2005.
Harris, Paul. “Girl in the Goldfish Bowl.” Variety, 26 Sept. 2006, variety.com/2006/legit/reviews/girl-in-the-goldfish-bowl-1200513068/.
Hastings, Christobel. “How Lavender Became a Symbol of LGBTQ Resistance.” CNN Style, 4 June 2020, www.cnn.com/style/article/lgbtq-lavender-symbolism-pride.
Hickling, Alfred. “Girl in the Goldfish Bowl.” The Guardian, 31 Mar. 2005, www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/mar/31/theatre2.
Hoile, Christopher. “Reviews 2002: Girl in the Goldfish Bowl.” Stage Door, 1 Oct. 2002, www.stage-door.com/Theatre/2002/Entries/2002/10/1_Girl_in_the_Goldfish_Bowl.html.
Horner, Jessica. “Undoing the Damage: Working with LGBT Clients in Post-Conversion Therapy.” Columbia Social Work Review, vol. 8, no.1, 2019, pp. 8-16.
Ingram, Jay. Theatre of the Mind: Raising the Curtain on Consciousness. HarperCollins, 2006.
Johnson, David K. The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government. U of Chicago P, 2004.
Jong-Fast, Molly. “How Donald Trump Echoes Joe McCarthy.” Vanity Fair, July-Aug. 2024, www.vanityfair.com/news/story/how-donald-trump-echoes-joe-mccarthy.
Kinsman, Gary, and Patrizia Gentile. The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation. U of British Columbia P, 2010.
Knegt, Peter. “The Fruit Machine: Why Every Canadian Should Learn about This Country’s ‘Gay Purge.’” CBC Arts, 30 May 2018, www.cbc.ca/arts/the-fruit-machinewhy-every-canadian-should-learn-about-this-country-s-gay-purge-1.4678718.
“Lavender Scare: Hoey Committee Final Report.” Social History for Every Classroom: Resources for Teachers, American Social History Project, 2024, shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/3612.
Mackenzie, Hector. “The Straight and Narrow Path: Policy Direction and Oversight of the Gay Purges in Canada.” British Journal of Canadian Studies, vol. 34, no. 2, 2022, pp. 189-216.
Martin, Brooks. “The Lavender Skeletons in TV’s Closet!” Confidential, July 1953, pp. 34-35.
Milar, Katharine S. “The Myth Buster: Evelyn Hooker’s Groundbreaking Research Exploded the Notion that Homosexuality Was a Mental Illness.” Monitor on Psychology [American Psychological Association], vol. 42, no. 2, 2011, p. 24, www.apa.org/monitor/2011/02/myth-buster.
National Archives Foundation. “The Lavender Scare.” Archives Experience, 2024, archivesfoundation.org/newsletter/the-lavender-scare/.
New Hampshire House Bill 1077. LegiScan: Bringing People to the Process, legiscan.com/NH/bill/HB1077/2022.
Owen, David. “The Comedy of Loss: The Plays of Morris Panych.” Canadian Association for Theatre Research (CATR) Conference, 2013, www.academia.edu/24476815/The_Comedy_of_Loss_The_Plays_of_Morris_Panych_CATR_2013_.
Panych, Morris. Girl in the Goldfish Bowl. Talonbooks, 2003.
“The Provincial Asylum for the Insane, 1878.” The Asylum Project in Western Canada, Madness Canada/folie Canada, 2022, madnesscanada.com/contributor-exhibits/theasylum-project/1878-bc/.
Rogers, Kaleigh, and Mary Radcliffe. “Over 100 Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Passed in the Last Five Years — Half of Them This Year.” FiveThirtyEight, 25 May 2023, fivethirtyeight.com/features/anti-lgbtq-laws-red-states/.
Shaw, Rob. “B.C. Government to Compensate Pre-1974 Woodlands Residents.” Vancouver Sun, 31 Mar. 2018, vancouversun.com/news/local-news/5-am-web-embargo-b-c-government-provides-compensation-to-former-woodlands-residents.
Strudwick, Patrick. “Psychiatrists Have Issued a Historic Admission of the Harm Done by Aversion Therapy.” Buzzfeed, 16 Oct. 2017, https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/uk-psychiatrists-have-issued-an-historic-admission-of-the
Thoreson, Ryan. “As Fewer Anti-LGBTQ Bills Pass, the Fight Gets Harder.” Washington Blade, 27 June 2024, www.washingtonblade.com/2024/06/27/opinion-fewer-antilgbtq-bills-pass-fight-harder/.
“Timeline of Conversion Therapy in Canada: An Incomplete History.” Wisdom2Action, 2023, www.wisdom2action.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Conversion-Therapy-Ban-Toolkit-Timeline.pdf.
Tye, Larry. “Donald Trump Has Restored McCarthyism to America.” The Globe and Mail, 15 Feb. 2025, p. O3.
Wells, Kristopher. Conversion Therapy in Canada: The Roles and Responsibilities of Municipalities. MacEwan U, 2019, www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/SexualOrientation/IESOGI/CSOsKZ/REPORT_-_Conversion_Therapy_in_Canada_Nov_2019.pdf.
Yurcaba, Jo, and Garrett Haake. “Trump Signs Executive Order Barring Transgender People from Military Service.” NBC News, 28 Jan. 2025, www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/trump-executive-order-transgender-military-dei-rcna189470.

How to Cite

Sugars, C. (2025). “Not Everybody Who’s Peculiar Is Insane”: The Lavender Scare in Girl in the Goldfish Bowl. Studies in Canadian Literature, 49(1). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/SCL/article/view/34881

Copyright Notice

[1] Baldor, Lolita C. “Trump Aims to Push Transgender Troops Out of the Military.” PBS News, 31 Jan. 2025, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-aims-to-push-transgendertroops-out-of-the-military-identifying-people-will-be-complicated.

[2] Beauchamp, Toby. Going Stealth: Transgender Politics and U.S. Surveillance Practices. Duke UP, 2019.

[3] Blakemore, Erin. “Gay Conversion Therapy’s Disturbing 19th-Century Origins.” History, 22 June 2018, updated 23 Aug. 2023, www.history.com/news/gay-conversion-therapyorigins-19th-century#:~:text=JUNE%2022%2C%202018-,copied,-.

[4] Blint-Welsh, Tyler, and Melanie Grayce West. “New York City Moves to Repeal Ban on Conversion Therapy.” Wall Street Journal, 12 Sept. 2019. Proquest, www.proquest.com/docview/2289038716/fulltext/D251FBA17D754146PQ/1?accountid=14701&sourcetype=Newspapers.

[5] Chenier, Elise. “Aversion Therapy.” GLBTQ Archives, 2004, www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/aversion_therapy_S.pdf.

[6] “‘Conversion Therapy’ Can Amount to Torture and Should Be Banned Says UN Expert.” United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner, 13 July 2020, www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2020/07/conversion-therapy-can-amount-torture-and-should-bebanned-says-un-expert.

[7] Davidmann, Sara. “Beyond Borders: Lived Experiences of Atypically Gendered Transsexual People.” Transgender Identities: Towards a Social Analysis of Gender Diversity, edited by Sally Hines and Tam Sanger, Routledge, 2010, pp. 186-203.

[8] Davison, Kate. “Cold War Pavlov: Homosexual Aversion Therapy in the 1960s.” History of the Human Sciences, vol. 34, no. 1, 2021, pp. 89-119. Sage Journals, journals-sagepubcom.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/doi/epub/10.1177/0952695120911593.

[9] Diagnostic and Statistical Manual: Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Association, 1952, https://www.turkpsikiyatri.org/arsiv/dsm-1952.pdf.

[10] Dirks, Stanley J. “Aversion Therapy: Its Limited Potential for Use in the Correctional Setting.” Stanford Law Review, vol. 26, no. 6, 1974, pp. 1327-41.

[11] Exit thru the Gift Shop. “Provincial Hospital for the Insane.” YouTube, 11 May 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=gm7i5n6vIEk.

[12] Fingerhut, Hannah. “In Iowa and Elsewhere, Bans on Widely Discredited ‘Conversion Therapy’ Become a Conservative Target.” PBS News, 25 Aug. 2023, www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-iowa-and-elsewhere-bans-on-widely-discredited-conversiontherapy-become-a-conservative-target.

[13] Fodey, Sarah, writer and director. The Fruit Machine. SandBay Entertainment, 2018. “The Fruit Machine.” SandBay Entertainment, www.sandbayentertainment.com/the-fruitmachine.

[14] Halberstam, Judith [Jack]. In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives. New York UP, 2005.

[15] Harris, Paul. “Girl in the Goldfish Bowl.” Variety, 26 Sept. 2006, variety.com/2006/legit/reviews/girl-in-the-goldfish-bowl-1200513068/.

[16] Hastings, Christobel. “How Lavender Became a Symbol of LGBTQ Resistance.” CNN Style, 4 June 2020, www.cnn.com/style/article/lgbtq-lavender-symbolism-pride.

[17] Hickling, Alfred. “Girl in the Goldfish Bowl.” The Guardian, 31 Mar. 2005, www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/mar/31/theatre2.

[18] Hoile, Christopher. “Reviews 2002: Girl in the Goldfish Bowl.” Stage Door, 1 Oct. 2002, www.stage-door.com/Theatre/2002/Entries/2002/10/1_Girl_in_the_Goldfish_Bowl.html.

[19] Horner, Jessica. “Undoing the Damage: Working with LGBT Clients in Post-Conversion Therapy.” Columbia Social Work Review, vol. 8, no.1, 2019, pp. 8-16.

[20] Ingram, Jay. Theatre of the Mind: Raising the Curtain on Consciousness. HarperCollins, 2006.

[21] Johnson, David K. The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government. U of Chicago P, 2004.

[22] Jong-Fast, Molly. “How Donald Trump Echoes Joe McCarthy.” Vanity Fair, July-Aug. 2024, www.vanityfair.com/news/story/how-donald-trump-echoes-joe-mccarthy.

[23] Kinsman, Gary, and Patrizia Gentile. The Canadian War on Queers: National Security as Sexual Regulation. U of British Columbia P, 2010.

[24] Knegt, Peter. “The Fruit Machine: Why Every Canadian Should Learn about This Country’s ‘Gay Purge.’” CBC Arts, 30 May 2018, www.cbc.ca/arts/the-fruit-machinewhy-every-canadian-should-learn-about-this-country-s-gay-purge-1.4678718.

[25] “Lavender Scare: Hoey Committee Final Report.” Social History for Every Classroom: Resources for Teachers, American Social History Project, 2024, shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/3612.

[26] Mackenzie, Hector. “The Straight and Narrow Path: Policy Direction and Oversight of the Gay Purges in Canada.” British Journal of Canadian Studies, vol. 34, no. 2, 2022, pp. 189-216.

[27] Martin, Brooks. “The Lavender Skeletons in TV’s Closet!” Confidential, July 1953, pp. 34-35.

[28] Milar, Katharine S. “The Myth Buster: Evelyn Hooker’s Groundbreaking Research Exploded the Notion that Homosexuality Was a Mental Illness.” Monitor on Psychology [American Psychological Association], vol. 42, no. 2, 2011, p. 24, www.apa.org/monitor/2011/02/myth-buster.

[29] National Archives Foundation. “The Lavender Scare.” Archives Experience, 2024, archivesfoundation.org/newsletter/the-lavender-scare/.

[30] New Hampshire House Bill 1077. LegiScan: Bringing People to the Process, legiscan.com/NH/bill/HB1077/2022.

[31] Owen, David. “The Comedy of Loss: The Plays of Morris Panych.” Canadian Association for Theatre Research (CATR) Conference, 2013, www.academia.edu/24476815/The_Comedy_of_Loss_The_Plays_of_Morris_Panych_CATR_2013_.

[32] Panych, Morris. Girl in the Goldfish Bowl. Talonbooks, 2003.

[33] “The Provincial Asylum for the Insane, 1878.” The Asylum Project in Western Canada, Madness Canada/folie Canada, 2022, madnesscanada.com/contributor-exhibits/theasylum-project/1878-bc/.

[34] Rogers, Kaleigh, and Mary Radcliffe. “Over 100 Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Passed in the Last Five Years — Half of Them This Year.” FiveThirtyEight, 25 May 2023, fivethirtyeight.com/features/anti-lgbtq-laws-red-states/.

[35] Shaw, Rob. “B.C. Government to Compensate Pre-1974 Woodlands Residents.” Vancouver Sun, 31 Mar. 2018, vancouversun.com/news/local-news/5-am-web-embargo-b-c-government-provides-compensation-to-former-woodlands-residents.

[36] Strudwick, Patrick. “Psychiatrists Have Issued a Historic Admission of the Harm Done by Aversion Therapy.” Buzzfeed, 16 Oct. 2017, https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/uk-psychiatrists-have-issued-an-historic-admission-of-the

[37] Thoreson, Ryan. “As Fewer Anti-LGBTQ Bills Pass, the Fight Gets Harder.” Washington Blade, 27 June 2024, www.washingtonblade.com/2024/06/27/opinion-fewer-antilgbtq-bills-pass-fight-harder/.

[38] “Timeline of Conversion Therapy in Canada: An Incomplete History.” Wisdom2Action, 2023, www.wisdom2action.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Conversion-Therapy-Ban-Toolkit-Timeline.pdf.

[39] Tye, Larry. “Donald Trump Has Restored McCarthyism to America.” The Globe and Mail, 15 Feb. 2025, p. O3.

[40] Wells, Kristopher. Conversion Therapy in Canada: The Roles and Responsibilities of Municipalities. MacEwan U, 2019, www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/SexualOrientation/IESOGI/CSOsKZ/REPORT_-_Conversion_Therapy_in_Canada_Nov_2019.pdf.

[41] Yurcaba, Jo, and Garrett Haake. “Trump Signs Executive Order Barring Transgender People from Military Service.” NBC News, 28 Jan. 2025, www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/trump-executive-order-transgender-military-dei-rcna189470.