Historians point to the trials of Oscar Wilde as a key inflection point, part of a late-Victorian shift in which male intimacy was increasingly watched, interpreted, and policed through suspicion about same-sex desire—making certain kinds of platonic touch feel riskier in public life. The U.S. government’s "Lavender Scare," formalized under Executive Order 10450 in 1953, led to the investigation and removal of thousands of gay federal employees, most of whom were men. And as sexual identities became more publicly defined in the final decades of the 20th century, same-sex touch was more likely to be interpreted through a sexual lens.
Author: Jarie Bolander
Published at: 2026-03-03 23:15:25
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