Is the Lavender Scare Back? FBI Firing of Gay Agent Says Yes.

 

FBI Termination Over a Pride Flag Raises Fear of Political Purge

Published November 21, 2025 | By Isabella I.

Is the FBI letting the Lavender Scare slip back into America’s bloodstream? In 2025, we shouldn’t even have to ask—but here we are, once again questioning what should’ve stayed buried in the past.

In early October, just three weeks before graduating from the FBI Academy in Quantico, a gay special agent trainee named David Maltinsky was abruptly terminated. No warnings. No failing scores. No misconduct. Instead, he says he was thrown out because of one thing: a Pride flag.

Maltinsky alleges his sudden dismissal was not about policy at all, but the result of what he calls a “political purge under FBI Director Kash Patel.” According to him, the Bureau is becoming afraid of being visibly LGBTQ+—a chilling echo of the Cold War-era Lavender Scare, when queer federal workers were hunted out of government jobs simply for being who they were.

And unfortunately, his story reads like déjà vu.

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FBI Trainee Fired After 16 Years of Service — Over a Flag?

Maltinsky is not some newcomer. He began at the FBI at 18, became full-time at 19, and came out at 21. Over the next 16 years, he worked corruption cases, cyber investigations, and even chaired the Bureau Equality Committee, advising senior leadership on LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Then, without warning, after completing 16 out of 19 weeks of the Bureau’s notoriously grueling Basic Field Training Course, he was pulled into an executive office and handed a letter signed by Patel—stating that he was being removed for displaying “political signage” in his previous role at the Los Angeles Field Office.

The only “signage”? A Progress Pride flag the FBI had given him during Pride Month in 2021 as recognition for his service.

Years later, it was suddenly grounds for termination.

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A Culture of Fear Takes Hold Inside the FBI

After his firing, Maltinsky told The Advocate that the mood inside the FBI shifted instantly:

“People immediately started scouring their desks of Pride flags, anything personal. Meetings went on for weeks about how this threat of dismissal could now come from inside your workplace.”

For queer employees, a once-tolerated symbol of identity became a liability overnight.

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The Lawsuit: “A Clear Violation of Federal Law and the Constitution”

Maltinsky’s legal team filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., arguing that his dismissal was blatantly unlawful. They state the flag he displayed violated no FBI rule, was approved by leadership at the time, and was even part of an official Pride display the Bureau organized.

In the complaint, they call Patel’s decision:

“A clear and brazen violation of federal law and the Constitution.”

His attorney Christopher M. Mattei said the firing wasn’t just the end of a dream—it was a warning shot at queer people in government:

“This case is about far more than one man’s career—it’s about whether the government can punish Americans simply for saying who they are.”

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The Bureau’s Retreat From Pride

The controversy comes after a decision in May, when FBI leadership instructed employees not to acknowledge Pride Month in any official capacity. In a memo sent to all divisions, the Bureau said there were to be no events, no messaging, and no recognition on FBI time or with FBI resources.

Leadership insisted this “does not lessen the FBI’s commitment to serve and protect every American,” but the message was clear: queer visibility was now politically risky.

This shift followed the Trump administration’s rollback of all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs—a policy move with enormous ripple effects.

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Echoes of the Lavender Scare

For older queer Americans, Maltinsky’s story resonates painfully with history: the Lavender Scare, a decades-long campaign to remove queer federal workers for being “security risks.” Careers were destroyed. Lives were ruined. Countless LGBTQ+ employees were forced back into the closet.

And now? A gay FBI trainee with sixteen years of service was removed because of a Pride flag.

Sixteen years of loyalty. Sixteen years of service. Gone because he dared to be visible.

RELATED: Will These LGBTQ Victims Get the Justice They Deserve?

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What Happens Now?

The lawsuit will determine whether Maltinsky gets justice—or whether this becomes a new chapter in America’s long, exhausting pattern of queer erasure in federal institutions. But one thing is certain: his firing has already sent a message far beyond the walls of Quantico.

It tells LGBTQ+ Americans that even in 2025—after decades of progress—the closet can still be weaponized.

And that is exactly why we must talk about this.

REFERENCE: The Advocate