You’re handcuffed, hauled into the police station, harassed, interrogated, and thrown behind bars—because you “look” gay.
In the 1950s, every state in America had laws that outlawed homosexuality (even if some were erratically enforced). Police vice squads patrolled public parks and other cruising areas and raided the few bars catering to the LGBT community.
Being arrested—and outed—often had devastating consequences. People lost their jobs, their families, and their reputations.
“Overt acts of sex perversion, including acts of homosexuality, constitute a crime under our Federal, State, and municipal statutes and persons who commit such acts are law violators.”
—Interim Report submitted to the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments by its Subcommittee on Investigations, 1950
Arrested for “crimes against nature,” all of these men faced prison time.
Mugshot of an unidentified man, no. 5633. Courtesy of Rich Wilson.
Mugshot of an unidentified man, no. 57487. Courtesy of Rich Wilson.
The S.I.R. Pocket Lawyer, published by the Society for Individual Rights, San Francisco, 1964. Joan Fleischmann Collection, John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives
The Society for Individual Rights (S.I.R.) based in San Francisco, California, was an early homosexual activist organization. Its S.I.R. Pocket Lawyer pamphlet was designed to assist those who found themselves confronted by the police. Distributed at the East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO) meeting in Philadelphia in 1965, it proved effective beyond San Francisco.
The 1967 CBS documentary, The Homosexuals, captures the mood of the 1950s and ’60s.
Clip from the CBS Reports documentary, The Homosexuals, Mike Wallace, 1957.
“Homosexuality is another one of the many problems confronting law enforcement in this city.”
—The New York Times, December 17, 1963