I hope you enjoy these chronicles. If you have any corrections, additions or suggestions please send to [email protected]

Thanks, Len

Of all mankind's ideas, the equating of sex with sin has left the greatest train of trouble.

Barbara Tuckman

(revised 10/02)

The dates for this chronicle are rather arbitrary. 1945 makes sense in that the distraction of war was over and people could put their energies into their own lives, but I hope the reader will not erect too high a barrier between 1945 and what was had happened in the 20’s and 30’s, and during the war. Gay people are adaptable and find ways to survive, even flourish, in times of war or peace. And we seemed capable of passing on our collective wisdom, imperfectly, to be sure, but in some manner, even in those ancient times. The 1970 cut off is even more problematic, lending as it does some sort of mystical homage to the icon of the Stonewall Riots. Stonewall was not some sudden abrupt turn in course, it came to be a symbol because it occurred at the floodgate of events that had been in motion and building since the 50’s and 60’s. Once again continuity and cause and effect intrude their sloppy complications to neat categories. I picked the cut off date, because by 1970 there was a national gay press, which took all the fun out of looking for these little snipets of information.

Any corrections, additions or comments appreciated,

send to [email protected]

US - Military directive establishes homosexuality as a disqualification from the Women's Army Corps (WACS), thus clearing the way for a purge of lesbians at the wars end.

US - Purge of lesbians at Fort Oglethorpe, George, WAC Training center.

US - War Department Circular required discharge of homosexuals either apprehended or reported, those seeking advice or treatment from medical officers are excluded from the regulations.

US - Section VIII, Psychopathic Personality is added as a category for discharge from the military. A catch-all phrase that included homosexuality, as well as other traits the military considered unsuitable. Those receiving Section VII, or Blue Discharges, were excluded from all military benefits, which became a post-war grievance for many gay GIs.

US - San Francisco Poet, Robert Duncan publishes a defense of homosexuality, "The Homosexual in Society", in the periodical Politics.

US - Veterans Administration denies GI Bill benefits to any serviceman discharged because of homosexuality, these instructions were renewed in 1946, and 1949.

US - War Department Circular #85 provided that homosexuals who had not committed any sexual offense would be given honorable discharges from the military.

Boston - Boston's Watch and Ward Society reports that after a long painstaking investigation by their Secretary, the "love nest of homos" was raided at 126 Commonwealth Avenue by the Vice Squad. 16 men and 2 women were arrested--all guilty on morals charges and given probation.

Boston - Opened in 1938, Jacques became a gay bar in the mid-1940s. Its owner opens The Other Side in 1965, the first discotheque in the city to allow same-sex dancing. Jacques is the oldest gay bar in Boston.

New York - Veterans Benevolent Society is formed in New York City. Primarily a social organization for gay veterans, it became peripherally involved in the grievances of GIs denied benefits as a result of Section VIII discharges. It also offered educational programs.

New York - A Quaker Emergency Committee is organized in New York City to assist gay men arrested for solicitation. The fact that it is headed by the rabidly homophobic Dr George Henry calls into question its claim to have helped some 15,000 sex offenders.

Athletic Model Guild begins selling physique photography in Los Angeles.

Kinsey Report is published. The key document at mid century opening the topic of sex to rational, public discussion. Homosexuality is presented as a natural part of the continuum of human sexuality. The findings on the incidence of homosexuality was far higher than anyone had suspected.

Lisa Ben publishes “Vice Versa“, the first lesbian publication is reproduced in small numbers on a typewriter with carbon paper.(in LA?)

US - Michigan - Director of Kent County veteran's center urges Navy to liberalize its strict stance on homosexuality.

US - Newsweek in an article "homosexuals in Uniform" reports that between 3,000 to 4,000 homosexuals had been discharged from the military during World War

NYC - Teenage prostitution reported on 42nd St.

Denver - Denver Post expose of the city's homosexual underground.

Pennsylvania - A young serviceman on leave is arrested by the Pittsburgh vice squad. Convicted of sodomy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and other charges, Jones received a sentence of 15-30 years. Subsequently absolved of these charges, the state of Pennsylvania voted to compensate Jones for the 19 years he spent in prison. The Pittsburgh vice squad was disbanded in 1954 on charges of extorting homosexuals.. Jones says he was persecuted when he refused to pay $300.

Calumet City, Ill - has reputation of being sin capitol of America.

New York - State Sex Offender registration bill proposed.

Physique Pictorial begins publication in Los Angeles. The first of the gay beefcake magazines.

US - Michigan. U. S. Rep. Clare E. Hoffman of Michigan blasts the employment of homosexuals in government.

Feb 9 Joseph McCarthy begins his anti-Communist crusade with a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia. When he is later unable to substantiate charges of subversion he made in that speech, he falls back on those cases in which people where removed from government positions because of their homosexuality, thus linking the issue of Communists in government with the issue of homosexuals in public employment.

Mar 1 Federal purge of homosexuals is inadvertently launched when Undersecretary of State Peurifoy testifying before a Congressional Committee off handedly mentions that in addition to other security risks 91 homosexuals had also been removed from the State Department. The Republicans where quick grasp the potential of this revelation.

Mar 9 Republicans charge that the Administration is lax in dealing with homosexuals. For a time perversion and subversion became almost synonymous.

Mar 23 Wherry-Hill Senate investigation of into the policing of homosexuals in the District of Columbia question Lieutenent Blick, head of the vice squad.

Apr 18 Republican National Chairman calls the homosexual issue as important as the Communist issue.

May 19 The House subcommittee on the District of Columbia reports on homosexuality in the nations capital.

Jun Washington DC - Shakeup of the vice squad.

Jun 7 The Hoey committee is charged with the investigation of homosexuals in the Federal government. The White House is counting on Senator Hoey to down play the issue as far as possible.

Washington DC - Senator Wherry pushes through increased funding for the DC vice squad, and urges that Blick's position be promoted to rank of inspector.

Jul 11 An internal White House memo warns Truman that the homosexual issue is potentially as dangerous as the Communist issue.

Aug Police enforcement against homosexuals is tightened in the District of Columbia. Forfeiture of bail is eliminated for homosexual offenses.

Sep 12 The Hoey Committee issues its report.

Purge of lesbians as Keeler, Lackland, and Wright-Paterson Air Force bases.

The California Supreme Court rules that no law prevents homosexuals from congregating in bars.

New York City - Chief Magistrate Murtagh announces drive against perverts.

Michigan - Commission appointed by Governor G. Mennon Williams urges harsher penalties for sex offenders.

The Homosexual In America, by Donald Webster Cory is published. Cory's book was a call to action on the part of homosexuals on the model of the emerging civil rights movement.

Apr 4 Washinton DC - Rep. Miller calls a drive on DC bottle clubs and perverts.

Apr 25 New York City - The Quaker (Homosexual) Re-Adjustment Center closes. The homophobic Dr George was the director.

Apr 28 The FBI reports that 406 sex deviants have been fired by the Federal government since -----.

Jun Burgess and McClean defect.

Jul Mattachine Society is formed in Los Angeles, marking the beginning of the homophile movement.

Dec Government agencies begin using lie detectors in their efforts to ferret homosexuals out of their government jobs.

Louisville, KY - "Queers hang out at Gordon's and Penquin's Club, and at the Farthest West on Main Street."

Omaha, NB. According to Confidential USA, "even in rugged Omaha men are no longer men. Fags hang out at the Frolics and many live in the YMCA

Walter-McCarran Immigration Act bans homosexual immigration.

Dr. Evelyn Hooker begins her study of the male homosexual personality. In the late 1950s she publishes the findings of her research in a series of monographs, reporting that she can find no signs of maladjustment in homosexual men's personalities."

Physical Culture magazine attacks homosexuals.

Mar 26 126 homosexuals are fired from the state Department since January.

Mar Citizens Committee to Outlaw Entrapment is formed in Los Angeles.

Jun Gatherings Committee begins investigation into "immoral and obscene" books and magazines, putting pressure on the growing physique phenomenon.

Aug Purge at the Newport, Rhode Island Naval Base. Officer and 24 enlisted men are discharged for homosexuality.

Nov Eisenhower elected President.

Arrest of Lord Montagu triggers a reaction to England's Sodomy law which eventually, after a long public debate, led to their repeal in 1967.

One magazine begins publication. The first independent homophile publication. (1953-69)

Tomorrow's Man Physique magazine begins publication.

Mar Choreographer Jerome Robbins names names before the House Un-American Activities Committee, after he is threatened with exposure. This is one of the few documented examples of the political blackmail of a homosexual.

Mar McLeod takes over security at the State Department, signalling a new purge. Sixteen homosexuals are fired within two weeks.

Apr Eisenhower issues Executive Order 10450 - The Loyalty and Security Program. Homosexuals will constitute 7% of all firings under the program.

Apr Arthur Vandenburg jr resigns as Eisenhower's White House Appointments Secretary when his homosexuality is discovered.

Apr Illinois - Report of the Legislative Commission on Sex Offenders suggests that if all sex laws were enforced there would be more people in prison than out.

Apr 13 425 homosexuals had been fired from the State Department since 1947.

Jul Korean War ends.

Oct Washington DC - Judge rebukes officer in Morals case reversal. (?)

Nov Miami, Florida crackdown begins and continues intermittently until 1954, when Miami passes an ordinance banning gay bars. (see Gay Chronicles - Florida)

Nov New York City - Mayoral campaign increases harassment of homosexuals

Dec Illinois' Secretary of state banned the distribution within the State Library system of any book "relating to sex". 8,000 books were withdrawn from circulation before sanity prevailed.

Body Beautiful Physique magazine (1954-64) begins publication.

Jan Pittsburgh, PA vice Squad jailed for shaking down homosexuals. Lt Louis Morgan and six patrolmen are sent to prison for taking bribes, and framing innocent men.

Mar Peter Wildeblood, then diplomatic correspondent of the Daily Mail, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for homosexual offences, together with Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and Major Michael Pitt-Rivers. The Montagu case, as it came to be known, was a cause célèbre. It had a direct influence on the Wolfenden Committee, whose report in 1957 recommended that homosexual acts between consenting adults in private be legalised, proposals which were finally passed into law in 1967."

Mar McCarthy charges the Army offered to trade data on gays in the Air Force if he would drop his Army probe.

Apr 5 Army-McCarthy hearings begin. In which the Senator from Wisc. is publicly discredited. Much of the hearing centered around attempts by McCarthy Committee Council Roy Cohn to secure special privilege for Army Pvt. David Shine. Why Cohn went to such lengths for Shine was posed as a public mystery, with homosexuality implied as the most reasonable explanation.

Jun Senator Hunt commits suicide after threats to reveal his son's homosexuality...

Jun Anti-gay drive - San Francisco.

Aug Great Britain - Appointment of the Wolfenden Committee on to consider the law relating to homosexual offences.

Oct October issue of One magazine seized by the Post Office as obscene.....

Oct Miami City Ordinance makes it illegal to 1)sell alcohol to a homosexual, 2) allow a homosexual to sell alcohol, 3) for two or more homosexuals to be in a bar.

Nov Wichita, Kansas crackdown.

The Homosexual and the Western Christian Tradition published

Great Britain - The British Medical Association declares itself not opposed to decriminalization.

Great Britain - Against the Law, by Peter Wildeblood, caused a sensation. Even The Daily Telegraph thought it "a very courageous, honest book which can do a great deal of good,"

California Statute outlaws gay bars.

Santa Monica, Ca crackdown gay bars and beach.

Provincetown, Mass - Raids on the Atlantic House, 20 men arrested. Chief of Police Rogers promises "every effort to drive undesirable out of Provincetown and the Cape."

Mattachine Review begins publication.

American Law Institute's Model Penal Code recommends repeal of Sodomy laws.

Physique Pictorial urges readers to join the ACLU

American News Corp, the largest national magazine distributor, refuses to distribute physique magazines.

Federal trials of three physique photographers in San Francisco. One of whom is Richard Roscoe, whose photos were anything but obscene. The fact that they were undraped males was all that was needed for conviction.

Oct Baltimore, Maryland. In order to draw attention away from a grand Jury investigation into police corruption, the Baltimore police closed bars and raided private parties. In one raid 162 men were detained. 162 men are arrested.

Nov Miami Mayor testifies before the Keevaufer subcommittee on pornography and Juvenile Delinquency. Collapses while passionately pleading for laws to control homosexuals.

Nov Boise, Idaho crackdown. See Boys of Boise.

Nov Sioux City,Iowa - In the wake of the kidnapping and murder of a young boy, the county attorney in Sioux City ordered the detention of known homosexuals, and using Iowa's Sexual Psychopath law committed 29 men to asylums without trial.

Dec New York City Mattachine founded.

Great Britain. - The Church of England supports repeal of the Sodomy Laws.

- The Sexual Offences Act became law and determined much police activity against homosexuals in the UK for the rest of the century despite amendments

introduced by the Sexual Offences Act 1967.

Florida. Pamphlet accusing Dade County Sheriff of homosexuality backfires, and he is re-elected by a landslide.

Michigan - Flamboyant Detroit cult leader Prophet Jones is arrested in his home on morals charge.

New York City - Mass arrests of homosexuals.

Revised movie code prohibits any reference to sexual deviance.

The Ladder, official organ of the Daughters of Bilitis, begins publication.

Leo Stern, publisher of Iron Man attacks physique magazines and homosexuals. Joe Weider issues an bathing suit only rule for his muscle building publications. Bob Misner surmises that Stern is miffed at losing circulation to the Physique Magazines. Weider who is Stern's rival in the muscle building field, publishes both body building and physique magazines and so is vulnerable on the homosexual issue.

Feb Miami News runs photos of gay bar owners and of their houses with their home addresses.

U S The Crittenden Report, a 639-page summary of an investigation undertaken by the Navy, says there is “no sound basis” for barring gays from the military as a security risk. The report goes so far as to conclude that “there is some information to indicate that homosexuals are quite good security risks.“ The military suppresses the report for nearly two decades.

New York City - Official of the Department of Health calls for mandatory syphilis tests for men suspected of being homosexuals.

Cincinnati - Anti-smut campaign continues until 1959.

Jan The national ACLU issues "Homosexuality & Civil Liberties". Takes the position that the Sodomy Laws are constitutional, re-affirmed that homosexuality was a valid consideration in evaluating security risks, and that the only areas in which they would specifically defend homosexuals was in the areas of the denial of due process, entrapment and sex offender registration laws when applied to consenting homosexuals.

Jun San Francisco. Howl by Alan Ginsburg is confiscated as obscene by police.

Sep Great Britain. The Wolfenden report is released. The Catholic Church, while emphasizing that it believes homosexuality to be a sin, recommends its decriminalization by endorsing the Wolfden Report.

Nov Gay artist Quaintance dies.....

Florida. The Johns' Committee investigates homosexual activity at Florida State University at Gainsville.....

Illinois. Kris studio and ACLU test the Illinois state law baring photo nudity.

Michigan - Detroit chapter of Mattachine Society established by Hal Lawson, David Brewer and Jai Moore.

Utah. Salt Lake City police crackdown on homosexuals.

Jan The U.S Supreme Court rules that One magazine is not obscene.

May Great Britain - The British Homosexual Law Reform Society (HLRS) was founded.

Michigan - Detroit vice cop is stabbed while attempting to arrest 32-year-old man on morals charge.

Michigan - Singer Johnnie Ray is arrested for solicitation at the Brass Rail in Detroit.

New York - Long Island gay bars caught in cross fire between the police and mob.

Liberace wins libel suit against London Daily Mirror columnist who implied he was gay.

US Postmaster Summerfield launches an anti-smut drive, directed in part at physique magazines and their readers.

Young Physique & Muscle Boy Physique magazines begin publication.

Aug New York City. Police crackdown. Instigated by reporter Lee Mortimer. 1959-60.

Oct San Francisco. Anti-homosexual smears dominate the mayors race...

Oct Colorado. The Denver police arrest Carl Harding, a founder of the local Mattachine Society for the possession of obscene (nude, male) photography. Mattachine mailing lists are also confiscated effectively destroying the fledgling organization.

Dec Michigan. Ann Arbor. Police crackdown.

Dec California. State Supreme Court rules that gay bars are not illegal.

Great Britain. Parliament rejects decriminalization of homosexuality in first vote.

Los Angeles. Kodak confiscates AMG film, turns it over to the LAPD vice squad for review.

The first national convention of the Daughters of Bilitis is held in San Francisco."

Mass. Provincetown. Police crackdown.

Michigan - James Wiles, arrested in crackdown at the University of Michigan, commits suicide a week before sentencing.

New York City. Major blackmail ring is exposed...

New York City. Campaign against nude photography. Al Urban serves 3 months in jail.

Feb San Francisco. "Gayola" payoff scandal breaks...

Apr Miami. Bar raids, 22 arrested.....

Apr April issue of Manual seized by the Post Office. The final Supreme Court decision in Manual vs Day was that homosexual material must be judged by the same standards as heterosexual material.

May The Homosexual Law Reform Society (HLRS) held its first public

meeting.

Aug Martin and Mitchell defect.

Aug Professor Arvin arrested for possession of male beefcake.....

Sep Wisc. Waukesha. Police crackdown.

Oct San Francisco. Police crackdown announced.

Calif. UC Berkeley Professor Parkinson murdered. The reason given by his killer - he was a communist and a homosexual. Such were the times.

San Francisco. Famous female impersonator Jose Seria runs for the Board of Supervisors. The League for Civil Education is formed in conjunction with the campaign.

Florida. The Johns Committee again turns its attention on homosexuals......

Illinois. Becomes the first state to decriminalize consensual sex acts. Such also were the times.

Michigan - While serving as Episcopal chaplain at Wayne State University, Malcolm Boyd is punched unconscious by a man he picked up at a Detroit bar.

New York City. Homophobic NY Times drama critic Howard Taubman refers to homosexuality as a "rot at the dramas core."

The muscle magazine Strength & Health attacks "Those dirty queer magazines."

Vim & Gym Physique magazines busted for operating a correspondence club.

Oct Calif. The ABC revokes the licenses of 13 gay bars.....

Oct The new movie code allows for "restrained" portrayals of homosexuals.

Nov The Washington DC Mattachine is formed.

The American Law Institute established a "Model Penal Code" with the

recommendation that private homosexual acts should only be considered crimes

when force or fraud was used or a minor was involved. It stated that private

morals are the concern of spiritual authorities, not the law.

San Francisco. The Tavern Guild is formed...

Florida. Miami police admit the existence of a list of over 3,000 known homosexuals.

Indianapolis IN - A 16 year old inmate at the Marion County Juvenile Center complained that "If anyone reported homosexual acts to a supervisor, nothing would get done about it and the guy would get beat up later. The youth was later found beaten.

New York City. Listener sponsored radio WBAI-FM airs an hour and half program of homosexuals talking about themselves.

Washinton DC - Park police arrest three members of the DC vice Squad in Lafayette Park.

The Supreme Court rules in Manual vs Day on the same day it strikes down school prayer.......

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals finds the "psychopathic personality" criteria of the Immigration Code (used to exclude homosexuals), void for vagueness.

Oct Philadelphia, PA - Celebration of the traditional "Witches Christmas (Halloween) in the center city area attracts hostile onlookers, and becomes so hostile that the police, who had been tolerant in the past, put an end to the celebration.

Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance, by Howard S Becker is published.

Hedda Hopper's autobiography alleges that Michael Wilding was a homosexual and implied a relationship with Steward Granger.

Mars begins publication.

May Washington DC bar raids. Gayety Buffet restaurant raided.

Oct Pennsylvania - 150 state police arrest 60 persons in the Pittsburgh area in a one-night vice sweep.

Sep New York - Gay rights demonstration at the Whitehall Induction Center in New York City, protesting against discrimination in the military.

Dec New York City. NY Times series on gay life in New York, after bar closings.

Canada - Two magazine, whose name was inspired by the U.S. magazine One, begins

publication and continues publishing until 1966. It is the first gay magazine in Canada.

Canada - The Association for Social Knowledge the oldest homophile organization in Canada, is formed in Vancouver.

ACLU national convention calls for the decriminalization of homosexuality.

The Friends Home Committee published "Towards a Quaker View of Sex" stating: "It is

the nature and quality of a relationship that matters: one must not judge it by its outward appearance but by its inner worth. Homosexual affection can be as selfless as

heterosexual affection, and therefore we cannot see that it is in some way morally worse. Neither are we happy with the thought that all homosexual behavior is sinful: motive and circumstances degrade or ennoble any act, and we feel that to list sexual acts as sins is to follow the letter rather than the spirit, to kill rather than to give life."

San Francisco. Society for Individual Rights(SIR) formed....

Chicago - A raid on the Lincoln Baths resulted in the arrest of 33 men, including eight employees.

New York City - Greenwich Village community organizations take anti-gay stance.

New York City - Women's Prison under investigation for lesbian activity. 1964-5.

New York City. Martin Block, Times Square news dealer is arrested for selling physique magazines.

Ohio - Cincinnati and Hamilton County officials site an increasing homosexual problem, propose a three point solution. 1) a new city ordinance making it unlawful for a man to wear feminine apparel for immoral purposes, 2) an investigation of bars catering to homosexuals, with possible legal action, 3) the establishment of an AA type clinic to help homosexuals.

Washington DC - ECHO conference held.

Washington DC - Arlington VA rookie policeman arrested in DC department store men's room.

Jan Chicago - Nine male dancers and a waitress were arrested at the Talk of the Town, which has female impersonators as entertainers. The raid took place after one of the entertainers solicited a detective for a drink. The dancer was charged with public indecency, impersonating a female, soliciting for prostitution, deviant sexual behavior, and, for good measure, being an inmate of a disorderly house.

Feb Chicago - Ten men are arrested in a raid on the Post House after two policemen report that they were solicited to perform immoral acts three times in five hours.

Jun Florida. The Johns Committee issues its infamous "Homosexuality & Citizenship in Florida" for a quarter. It was considered so pornographic that the public outcry over the pamphlet let to the disbanding of the Johns Committee. Guild Press sold reprints of the pamphlet.

Oct Washington D,C. Walter Jenkins caught in t-room, American Mental Health Foundation warns against hysteria......

Oct Washington DC - The National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union issues a paper on the federal employment of homosexuals,

Dec San Francisco. Council on Religion and the Homosexual formed......

Tucson, AZ - Plainclothesmen working in groups of three make six arrests. One officer strikes up a conversation with a suspect while the other two watch from a distance. If the suspect starts making "unnatural" moves, they move in for the arrest. The six men, all middle-aged, criticized the arrests.

Dec New York - Appearing before the Temporary State Commission on Revision of the Penal Law and Criminal Code, considering consensual sex law reform, heard testimony from a representative of the Catholic Church ("Homosexuality is an increasing threat to sound family life...We must take every reasonable step to inhibit its spread and eradicate it." ), and the Episcopal Diocese of NY which supported the law reform.

Dec North Carolina. Max Doyle released after serving 3 years of a 20-30 year Sodomy conviction. Considered a town nuisance, he was a transvestite, and had one previous conviction for prostitution. He wore women's clothe to his first trial. At his appeals hearing the Federal Judge James Braxton Craven remarked that putting the Doyle in prison was "a little like throwing Brier Rabbit into the Briar Patch." But then asked "Is it not time to redraft a criminal statute first enacted in 1533?" Because the case was dismissed on procedural grounds, Doyle was retried and acquitted.

Dec San Francisco - Mass Arrests, California Hall New Years Eve......

Dec Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh police along with state police and county detectives team up in a series of raids hitting at least 19 hotels, motels, bars, and houses in the city. Among those arrested were female impersonators, who were charged with soliciting to commit sodomy.

Dec Colorado - The Criminal Code Committee of the state legislature began a general study of statutes concerning sex offenses.

Great Britain. Wolfenden report rejected by Parliament for the second time, but was passed by the House of Lords.

Phoenix, AZ - A jail riot was traced to a fight over the affections of a 20 year old incarcerated for prostitution.

Yuma, AZ - The Rev. John B Butcher was fired as Chaplain of the Arizona State Prison after he sent a violent indictment of conditions inside the prison to all member of the legislature. He claimed it was quite common for young inmates to be "turned out", or forced into homosexual activities.

California - Santa Ana police crackdown.

California - Los Angeles Civil Liberties Union decides to challenge the Sodomy law.

California - UC Berkeley authorities refuse to allow the showing of Genet's Un Chant d'Amour, the film is confiscated by the police.

San Francisco - The Ginsburg case.....

San Francisco - Political candidates address a homophile movement.

California - Santa Cruz police confiscate photos of male genitalia from an art gallery.

Deleware - the Delaware Sunday News announced that homosexuality is not a major problem in Delaware, although the article added "It is hard to find a young man who has entered the men's room of a metropolitan public rest area who has ever been approached in some way with certain proposals.."

Florida - The Johns Committee is disbanded.

Florida - Miami Mattachine founded.

Dalton, GA - Three men, including a Baptist minister are arrested for having sex with teenage boys.

Illinois - Pro-America Forum rally hears address "The Infamy of Illinois Legalizing Homosexuality Repudiates Bible Laws."

Boston - City Council unanimously passes an order for the police department to investigate liquor establishments and restaurants which allegedly cater to "beatniks, homosexuals and other undesirable."

Mass - Models Studio found guilty of obscene photography.

New York - Civil Liberties Union will only challenge entrapment.

New York County (Manhattan) Bar Association supports decriminalization.

N Y State Assembly first decriminalizes, then recriminalizes sodomy.

NY Post article favors decriminalization.

New York City - Demonstration at the United Nations building in NY to picket against Cuba's persecution of homosexuals.

New York City - Gays support Lindsay's election for mayor. Police entrapment is an issue in New York city, 1965-6.

New York City - Anti-smut crusade led by License Commissioner DiCarlo 1965-6

New York City - A former Police Captain is investigated on charges that he impeded an investigation into homosexual activities at a mid-town hotel.

North Carolina - Sodomy law penalty is reduced after public reaction to the Doyle case.

Ohio - Using a one-way mirror police kept the men's room in Mansfield's town square under surveillance for two months, including making movies. Three men were indicted for sodomy. One was given a mandatory 1 to 20 year sentence. Defense arguments that the evidence was obtained by what constituted an unreasonable search was rejected by the Ohio courts, while the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Ohio - State Supreme Court declares the states solicitation for "unnatural sex acts" statute unconstitutional because of vagueness, although the court went on to say that it believed that homosexual solicitation should be regulated.

Oregon - The sex of a male prisoner was changed surgically shortly before he was released from the Oregon State Penitentiary. It is believed to be the first time such an operation took place in a prison as a part of rehabilitation.

Oregon - The Oregon Liquor Control Commission broke precedent by not following the recommendation of the Portland City Council to revoke the licenses of bars frequented by homosexuals.

Pennsylvania - Liquor control board cracks down on gay bars. The Clock's in Harrisburg, and the Big Apple in Reading have licenses revoked.

Pennsylvania - A midnight raid by Chester police broke up an alleged "vice ring". Seven men were accused of being homosexuals, and five bartenders were charged with keeping a disorderly house.

Pennsylvania - Thirty four men are arrested on charges of sodomy and solicitation in the State Street section of Harrisburg. The District Attorney promised to "rid our community of this infectious disease." The police were charged with using teenagers as decoys.

Washinton D.C. - Adopting a policy advocated by the homophile movement, the District of Columbia replaced plainclothes officers with uniform officers in public places frequented by homosexuals. There were 175 fewer arrests in 1965.

Washinton DC - Owners of the Uptown Lounge are found guilty of keeping a disorderly house. (Its a good thing they never saw my house.)

Washington DC - The Department of Corrections calls for the construction of a homosexual dormitory.

Washington DC - Ten members of East Coast Homophile Organizations march outside the White House to protest government antigay discrimination.

Playboy foundation funded by Hugh Hefner to fight sex laws and censorship.

Postal inspectors harass subscribers to physique magazines, including Drum magazine.

Otto Preminger refuses to let CBS televise Advice & Consent, if they cut the gay bar scene.

Iron Man, attacks the "scandalous invasion of homosexuality into the muscle building field.

First frontal nudes appear in Butch magazine, published by DSI

Mar National blackmail ring exposed.

Apr Cape May, NJ - A secret meeting of the city council and merchants discussed strategies for discouraging the establishment of Cape May as a "Southern New Jersey Fire Island." As a result of this meeting, the council passed an ordinance banning skin-tight, bikini type bathing suits, with a $200 fine. (graphic)

Apr Philadelphia - Janus Society pickets Dewey's restaurant after presumed homosexuals are refused service.

Apr New York City - Anti-smut campaign begins.

Apr Michigan - Home of C Welty of Kalamazoo raided for porn.

May New Orleans - While investigating complaints of homosexuality and prostitution, Vice squad members posing as college students arrest eight men at the Ship Ahoy bar.

Jun 3 New York - The state legislature overwhelmingly approved the Model Penal Code, including the consensual sex provision. Immediately after the vote, Assemblyman Julius Volker introduced bills reinstating sodomy and adultery as crimes. The adultery law reinstatement failed, while the sodomy provision passed 115 to 16.

Jun Scott vs May

Jun San Francisco. Council on Religion and the Homosexual issues its "A Brief of Injustices".

Jul 4 Philadelphia - Homophile picket at Independence Hall.

Oct Providence, RI - Alarmed that Providence was becoming popular with homosexuals, town authorities stepped up their drive to "break up overt homosexual activities in the downtown business district.

Oct New Jersey - An investigation into prison conditions by Republican Assemblyman David A Gelber made front page headlines when he recounted incidents "in which guards and inmates engaged in homosexual activities and occasions when guards or trustees threatened inmates if they did not submit. An earlier investigation uncovered charges of widespread homosexuality at Greystone State Hospital.

Dec Ohio - The Mahoning County Sheriff announces the pending arrest of 25 men suspected of frequenting a roadside park for immoral purposes. Sheriff Ray T Davis said he has 500 feet of motion picture films and other evidence.

Calif. - Prop 16 anti-smut initiative.

CALIF. Laguna Beach crackdown

Calif. Head of the state ABC leads anti-gay drive.

Calif. KRON-TV wins the State Fair Broadcast Media, Gold Medal for its program "Homosexuals".

San Francisco - The SIR Center (Society for Individual Rights) opens in San Francisco.

Los Angeles - “Pride” newsletter, forerunner of the Advocate begins publication.

Florida - State University official protests the use of students as decoys in a crackdown on homosexuals.

Baltimore, MD - A report of the International Association of Chiefs of Police found the local police incompetent, mismanaged and unwilling to curb flagrant vice. The Block, a strip of bars, night clubs, and bookstores, which came under special attention as purveyors of "smutty" paperbacks and magazines for homosexuals.

New Jersey - Crackdown on gay bars.

1966

New York City - Student Homophile League, at Columbia University.

New York City - Replacing homophobic Harold Taubman as NY Times drama critic, Stanly Kaufman defends the right of homosexuality to be freely expressed in drama.

New York City - Entrapement ended. Arrests drop drastically.

New York City - Mayor Lindsay appoints Philadelphia police Chief Leary to head NYPD. He is known as a liberal in his attitude towards gay bars.

Philadelphia, PA - Council on Religion & the Homosexual formed.

Tenn. - Memphis police crackdown.

Washington DC - Council on Religion and the Homosexual formed.

Postmaster General O'Brien under congressional pressure agrees to stop surveillance of homosexual magazine subscribers.

Movie code revision calls for "restraint in dealing with sexual aberrations."

Christianity Today ran articles on Council on Religion and the Homosexual , and the National Council of Churches met with gay activists.

Feb Florida. Miami Mattachine society and the ACLU challenge Miami ordinance outlawing gay bars.

Feb New York City. Police crackdown. The ACLU will only defend entrapment cases.

Mar Kansas City. Phoenix Society founded.

Apr New York City - Mattachine Society sip-in.

May Cape May, NJ - A 30 year old man arrested on charges of lewdness arising out of alleged homosexual activity with personnel at the Cape May Coast Guard Base. He had previously been indicted on one count of sodomy, and one count of "carnal linguism". The Coast Guard charged 11 men with homosexuality.

May Memphis, TN - Alarmed at the number of young men who were selling their favors to men who had come before him recently, a Juvenile Court Judge ordered a special crew of probation officers to work with the juvenile squad in a crackdown. The most frequent place for complaints was Court Square. The Judge remarked , "That place is swarming with homosexuals."

Jun Minneapolis, MN - Men were observed dancing together, holding hands and kissing at the Sutton Place bar, but no arrests had been made because the morals squad was uncertain "how flagrant such conduct need be to justify an arrest." Following criticism from city Aldermen, the bars license was suspended for 15 days.

Jun Cleveland, OH - Charges of homosexual activity at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Home.

Jun Ohio - Dayton physique photographer arrested.

Jul The National Council of Churches first takes up the homosexual issue.

Jul Oklahoma City, OK - Captain Cliff Miller, assistant chief of detectives announces open season on homosexuals. Following a two month long investigation, three educators are arrested, and the County Attorney claims the crackdown had resulted in the removal of 26 educators, including a junior high vice principal, and a "higher-up" on the PE staff.

Jul 4 Philadelphia - Homophile picket at Independence Hall

Aug National Conference of Homophile Organizations formed at Kansas City meeting of 15 local homophile organizations - results in demonstrations in several cites against federal employment discrimination and military exclusion. Adopt slogan, “Gay is Good”.

Oct North Carolina - A legislative subcommittee recommends that the general Assembly make no changes in the "crimes against nature" law. North Carolina had recently lowered the maximum sentence from 60 years to two years as the result of the national attention given the Max Doyle case. (Dec '64)

Sep Tucson, AZ. - Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Norman E Green attacks the "rottenness" at Arizona State Hospital permitted by Republican governor Sam Goddard. "Free love, promiscuity, rape, homosexuality and lesbianism are running unchecked", Green asserted.

Sep Maryland - Commissioner of Corrections Vernon L Pepersack states that "some homosexual prisoners are allowed to share cells as "man and wife" in the Maryland Penitentiary if they don't cause trouble."

Great Britain - The Sexual Offences Act came into force in England and Wales, and

decriminalised homosexual acts between two men over 21 years of age and in

private.

Boston - The Boston Police Vice Squad enter offices of the alternative weekly, The Avatar with a warrant to "seize all obscene material."

Montgomery, AL. - City law requires the registration of all sex offenders. All registrants are finger printed, photographed, and required to furnish all passed addresses and offenses.

California - Gov. Ronald Reagan fires homosexual staff members.

Calif - Episcopal Diocese of Calif urges the abolition of laws regulating private sexual behavior.

Connecticut - The State Commission to Revive and Codify the Criminal Statutes recommended the repeal of much of the states sex laws. "Sexual activity in private, whether heterosexual or homosexual, between consenting competent adults is no business of the criminal law", the Commission stated.

Atlanta, GA - The ACLU of Georgia criticizes the Atlanta police for their methods of dealing with homosexuals.

Georgia - Warden Robert P Balkcom jr was fired after the eight prisoner in 17 months is murdered, and allegations of widespread homosexuality and narcotics.

Michigan - Officials are charged with concealing movie cameras to view homosexual activity in Wayne State University rest rooms. Wayne State University administration agrees to destroy files on suspected homosexuals.

New Orleans - District Attorney Jim Garrison's private explorations into the Kennedy assassination allegedly picks-up bizarre gay connections.

New Jersey - State Supreme Court rules homosexuals right to patronize bars.

New York - Supreme Court rules in favor of homosexuals dancing in bars.

New York - Court rules that one incident of solicitation is insufficient to suspend a liquor license. State Liquor Authority can not bar gays without actual evidence of misconduct.(Sayz who?)

New York - Student Homophile League chartered at Columbia.

Pennsylvania - The superintendent of the Pennsylvania Correctional Institute at Philadelphia canceled an issue of the prison paper the Eastern Echo, because it was devoted entirely to prison sex.

Seattle, Wash. Dorian Society formed.

President’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography created.

CBS special on homosexuals hosted by Mike Wallace.

Boutillier vs INS - Supreme Court upholds the right to exclude homosexuals from immigration..

Supreme Court allows the importation of Danish nudist magazines by guild Press.

Andy Warhol's "The Chelsea Girls".

ABC inaugurates TV series NYPD with episode about homosexual blackmail.

Mar Philadelphia - Police raid Rusty's, the city's most popular lesbian bar, arresting 12. The local Daughters of Belitis was able to persuade the district attorney to drop the charges.

May Dayton, Ohio crackdown. 26 arrested, names printed in papers. News dominates local papers for weeks.

Jun Florida - South Florida state Hospital refuses to fire employees solely for homosexuality.

Jun Calumet City, Ill- Calumet City's major problem is homosexual prostitution a group of residents told Mayor J.W. Nowak. The area around the gay bars on State Line Avenue was alleged to be a notorious homosexual center.

Jul Kansas City - The newly formed Phoenix Society confronts the police department over entrapment, after an unsatisfactory meeting with police officials, the Society turns to the ACLU for assistance.

Aug 3rd national NACHO meeting in Washington DC

Aug Los Angeles - Ten patrons arrested in bar raids in Silver Lake area.

Aug ACLU adopts national policy calling for decriminalization.

Aug DSI case..

Sep Philadelphia - The results of a three month investigation into homosexual activities in the city's three jails. The report estimated at least 2,000 attacks in the past two years.

Aug The Advocate is formed from the “Pride Newsletter“.

Sep National Institute of Mental Health appoints Task Force on Homosexuality.

Nov Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore opens in NYC.

Nov Los Angeles - Bar raids - protest march on Sunset Blvd.

Nov New York - Conference of the Episcopal dioceses of NY, Conn., Long Island and Newark, NJ called for classifying homosexual acts between consenting adults to be "morally neutral."

Dec Seattle - Gay conference representing three western states and British Columbia.

France - The Comite Pederastique de la Sorbonne, met a few times during the

student uprising in the Spring.

U S - The Church of Christ's Council on Christian Social Action calls for the decriminalization of homosexual activities between consenting adults.

Boston MA - A detective, a sergeant and seven patrolmen are assigned to investigate alleged immoral acts in Turkish baths and locker rooms in the south end.

Boston, MA - Radio station WMEX carries a three-hour program on homosexuality with Dick Leitsch, President of NY Mattachine Society, and Frank Morgan, founder of the Boston Mattachine.

Mayor Kevin White appears on radio station WMEX and states that he would not favor legislation seeking to abolish laws forbidding private consensual acts, or support the idea that homosexuals have the same rights as other citizens.

Washington DC - FBI agents are assigned to police Federal Building bathrooms

Michigan - Highland Park police seize the film "Of the Same Gender" from Hiland Art Theatre as obscene.

Michigan - repeals criminal sexual psychopath law.

William F Buckly calls Gore Vidal a queer during the Democratic Convention coverage.

Jan US Supreme Court refuses to review the Florida Appeals Court ruling upholding the Miami ordinance outlawing gay bars.

Jan Kansas City - The city's Metropolitan Inter-Church Agency forms task force on homosexuality.

Delaware - Homosexual Law Reform Society created to eliminate the crime of "consensual sodomy" in a proposed criminal code before the Delaware House of Representatives. According to the new law " a person is guilty of consensual sodomy when he engages in deviate sexual intercourse with another person. It is no defense that the other person consented to the deviate sexual intercourse." Conviction carried a maximum sentence of 3 months in prison and/or a fine of up to $500. The consensual sodomy provision was eliminated in 1972.

Feb Washington DC - Mattachine Society provides legal defense for an electrician denied a security clearance for his alleged homosexuality. (The case was lost two years later in the US Court of Appeals.

Mar Calif. - An Orange County man loses his home and auto insurance as the result of an accusation that he was a homosexual.

Apr NY - Columbia University Student Homophile League pickets medical school forum on homosexuality.

May Los Angeles - District Attorney Candidate Mike Hannon said private consensual sex acts should not be prosecuted. He was defeated.

May NY - Columbia University Student Homophile League joins student strike.

Jun Calif - State Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a Los Angeles ordinance used to harass male erotic movie theaters.

Jun NYC - Following an agreement between the Mattachine Society and Mayor Lindsay to end police entrapment - arrest by police decoys fall from over 100 a week to nearly zero.

Jul Los Angeles - County Court Justice voids city ordinance against nudity on private property.

Jun Ralston, NB - The Ralston chief of police was arrested in front of the Ralston police station by state troopers and jailed on a morals charge, over an alleged incident with a 15 year old boy. Other youths were questioned.

Aug NACHO conference.

Sep San Francisco - Homophile organizations complain to the state Public Utilities Commission when the phone company denied them a "Homophile Organizations" listing. The listing was added in 1971.

Sep Columbus, OH - When parents lodged complaints that their teenage sons were ditching school to frequent Southview Park, police ended their policy of tolerating homosexual activity in the park. A weeks stakeout netted 24 arrests.

Oct Rev. Troy Perry, a Pentecostal minister, conducts a service for twelve people gathered at a house in Huntington park, California. This was the first meeting of the Metropolitan Community Churche. Two years later, MCC had over five hundred members.

Oct Los Angeles - Ramon Navarro murdered.

Nov Dayton, OH - Charges of homosexual assaults at the county jail.

Nov San Diego - Three weeks of police sweeps of Balboa Park and Beach areas results in the arrest of 75 men.

Nov Covington, KY - A raid on the Riverview Health Club resulted in the arrest of 33 men on charges ranging from sodomy to disorderly conduct.

Dec New Jersey - State Supreme Court overturned the revocation of three bar licenses for permitting homosexuals to congregate.

Dec Hawaii - Judges testify before state legislature supporting consensual sex legislation.

Great Britain - The Committee For Homosexual Equality (CHE) was formed in Britain. (It changed its name to the Campaign for Homosexual Equality in 1971.)

Scotland - The Scottish Minorities Group (SMG) first met in January, and then were

officially founded on 9th. May

Canada - Amendments to the Canadian criminal code legalizes private sexual acts between consenting adults over the age of twenty- one.

Alaska - State Supreme Court strikes down Sodomy law.

Calif - State Supreme Court rules teachers may not be fired for non-criminal homosexual acts performed in private.

Connecticut - Second state to repeal Sodomy law.

Columbus, OH - Investigators from the Ohio State Liquor Commission confiscated 14 copies of Vector magazine from "The Other Place" (Frankie's) bar, in the hopes of closing the bar on charges of selling obscene material.

Richmond (VA) Homophile League formed after bar raids.

National Institute of Mental Health urges the repeal of Sodomy laws.

Media - Time, Newsweek, Look and Esquire run articles on homosexuality.

One magazine suspends publication.

Barry Goldwater wins libel suit against FACT magazine for implying among other things that he was a repressed homosexual.

Nationally televised soothsayer Criswell predicts that homosexuality "will go out of style."

Theaters in Los Angeles and San Francisco begin showing physique films and rudimentary porn.

Jan Los Angeles - Police sweeps of Barnsdahl Park.

Feb New York - The Correctional Association of New York called for the repeal of the state criminal statutes against abortion, prostitution and homosexuality.

Mar A federal judge ruled that a Yugoslav man with admitted ":homosexual tendencies" could become an American Citizen.

May New York City. Homosexuality would no-longer be a detriment to placement in city civil service jobs.

May Alan Ginsburg is punched by an Arizona Republic reporter during a discussion of homosexuality.

May Los Angeles - Homophobic Councilman Paul Lamport loses re-election bid, in large part as result of gay vote.

May San Francisco - SF Film Festival shows Pat Rocco's nude ballet film.

May Canada - Repeals its Sodomy laws.

May West Germany decriminalizes homosexual acts among males over 21. East Germany had decriminalized gay sex a year earlier.

Jun 27 New York City - Police raid on the Stonewall bar.

Jun New York City - Police look the other way when vigilantes chop down trees in a park they claim had become a homosexual hangout.

Jul New York City - Gay Liberation Front formed.

Jul 4 Philedelphia - Homophile groups hold their 4th and last demonstration at Independence Hall.

Jul Norton vs Macy - US Supreme Court rules that the federal government can not dismiss an employee merely for being a homosexual.

Jul Kansas - Reduces consensual homosexual act from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Jul Atlanta, GA - City police sweep city parks with flash cameras. City Aldermen consider closing parks at night

Aug Fifth annual conference of NACHO held in Kansas City. Radical caucus formed.

Oct San Francisco - Board of Supervisors candidate Diane Finstein supports getting police out of public restrooms and onto the street.

Oct Minn. - University of Minn recognizes gay organization.

Oct 31 San Francisco - SF Examiner employees drop purple ink on gays protesting an article calling gays queers.

Nov Los Angeles - LA Times boycott is called by the Homosexual Information Center when the paper refuses to use the word homosexual in an ad.

Nov Chicago - Police sweep of bars, 23 arrested.

Dec San Francisco - Police arrest 12 demonstrators at the SF Examiner.

Dec New York City - The Gay Activist Alliance is formed.

Dec Hawaii - The state Penal Revision Project recommends decriminalization of homosexual acts.

Adams vs Laird - The Supreme Court upholds the validity of Civil Service anti-gay regulations.

Report of President's Commission on Obscenity & Pornography.

Jan Los Angeles - Demonstration on Hollywood Blvd for police reform led by Rev. Troy Perry.

Feb Los Angeles - Protest at Barney's Beanery over "Faggots stay out " sign.

Feb NBC airs 6 part series on gays as part of news show "Close Up".

Mar A resolution asking the Episcopal church to "open her eyes and ears to the suffering of homosexuals passed by a convention of several hundred clergymen.

Mar San Francisco - A postal worker fights attempt to fire him. Regains his job in November.

Mar New York City - A youth arrested in a bar raid & fearing deportation almost kills himself in jumping from the second floor window of 'the police station.

Mar Los Angeles - Police fatally shoot a 20 year-old black transvestite.

Apr Los Angeles - The Times reverses its ban on the use of the word homosexual in ads.

Apr Sacramento (CA) - Sacramento State College refuses to recognize the Society for Homosexual Freedom, a student group.

Apr Los Angeles - GLF pickets Spanish consulate over pending Spanish legislation that would penalize homosexuals.

May Washington DC - The Gay Liberation Front joins anti-war protests. Holds a nude-in in the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.

May Chicago - The editor of the Mattachine Midwest newsletter went on trial for defaming a Chicago vice officer.

May Honolulu - Police arrest blackmailer of gay victims.

May US District Court in Sacramento ruled it was legal to mail obscene material upon request.

May Los Angeles - 16 men arrested in raids on the Regency Baths.

Jun Stonewall commemorative marches held in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. 5,000 to 10,000 march in 1st Stonewall anniversary demonstration in New York.

Jun Los Angeles - County Clerk requests the state legislature tighten its prohibitions against same-sex marriages.

Jun New York - CBS is accused by the NY Mattachine of discrimination when it refuses to hire a gay man.

Jul The Daughters of Bilitis scuttles its national structure in favor of a federation of autonomous chapters.

Jul Gay activists picket Macy's over the stores refusal to work with gay groups, and halt arrests in its bathrooms.

Jul Los Angeles - Rev Troy Perry ends a ten day fast after entering into "Meaningful discussion" with city officials.

Jul Phoenix - One, Inc building damaged in suspected arson fire.

Jul Nebraska - The University of Nebraska approves a course in homophile studies.

Jul Cincinnati - Charges dismissed against 49 persons arrested at a private gay party.

Aug Black Panther leader Huey Newton proposes to work with the Gay Liberation Front and the Women's Liberation Front, adding that gays "might be the most oppressed people in our society."

Aug New York City - After New York University gay student demonstrators are attacked by police, nearly 2,500 gays riot. 18 are arrested and dozens injured , including police.

Aug A white House letter to the stated that President Nixon "doesn't think people of the same sex should marry.

Aug United Nations - Secretary General U Thant agreed that the UN would study the question of gay rights.

Sep Los Angeles - Unidos latino gay & lesbian organization formed.

Sep Minnesota - A federal judge ruled that the University of Minn could not refuse employment to a librarian solely because he was homosexual.

Sep San Francisco - Police chief meets with gay leaders.

Sep New York - A militant faction of Homosexuals Intransigent called for the takeover of parts of Manhattan.

Sep Minnesota - The Teachers Advisory Council approved a theater piece about homosexuality to be shown to high school students.

Oct Great Britain - The London Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was founded after meeting in the London School of Economics on 13th. October.

Oct New York - A week-long sit in and demonstrations protest New York University's anti-gay hiring practices.

Oct San Diego - Police sweeps of Balboa Park. 135 arrests.

Oct Detroit - Bar shut down for fire inspection, owners charge harassment.

Nov California - The Rev Troy Perry ran as a write-in candidate for lieutenant governor.

Nov Los Angeles - KRLA radio station placed a full page ad in the magazine supplement of the LA Times.

Dec Los Angeles - KNBC-TV won the Best Documentary Award of the Southern California Radio and Television Broadcasters for "Out of the Shadows."

Dec New York - The Long Island Gay Activist Alliance began working with the Nassau County Human Rights Commission.