Boise homosexuality scandal
By the time the investigation wound down in January 1957, some 1,500 people had been questioned, sixteen men faced charges, and fifteen of them were sentenced to terms ranging from probation to life in prison.
Reportage of the investigation and arrests set off a moral panic in Boise, fueled by incendiary editorials in the city's newspaper.
[2] Those arrested were Ralph Cooper, a 33-year-old shoe repairman; Charles Brokaw, a 29-year-old freight worker; and Vernon Cassel, a 51-year-old store clerk.
When the arrests were announced, Ada County Probation Officer Emery Bess stated, without offering supporting evidence, that the investigation had only "scratched the surface" of "child molestation activities" in Boise involving several adults and over 100 teenagers.
[3] According to Jim Brandon, at the time the chief of the Boise Police Department, the investigation began when the local YMCA became concerned about the number of transients who were staying at the facility and possible sexual improprieties.
Dice initially discovered nothing, then began speaking with some youths who told him about "juvenile delinquents" who congregated at the YMCA and who engaged in homosexual acts with adult men.
Bess refused to turn over the list to the police or the prosecutor and Dice, operating under the direction of a local organization, the Allied Civic Group, continued the investigation that led to the three initial arrests.
The Statesman then called for "the whole sordid situation" to be "completely cleared up, and the premises thoroughly cleaned and disinfected" using "the full strength of county and city agencies".
Moore, then the vice-president of the Idaho First National Bank, was arrested for an "infamous crime against nature" committed with Lee Gibson, a 15-year-old boy who had also been the complaining witness against Cooper.
[11] Claiming that those so "victimized" would "grow into manhood with the same inclinations of those who are called homosexuals", the Statesman concluded, "No matter what is required, this sordid mess must be removed from this community.
"[12] Anonymous calls to the police turning in the names of any man who in the opinion of an observer seemed to pay too much attention to any young male flooded in and the city's gay residents realized that a witch hunt was in full swing.
One man, a teacher, was so terrified upon reading of Moore's arrest over breakfast that he abandoned the city for San Francisco without informing the school or even finishing his eggs.
[15] On December 12, 1955, Time magazine published an article called "Idaho Underworld" in which it recounted the initial arrests and convictions and claimed that a "widespread homosexual underground" had "preyed on hundreds of teen-age boys for the past decade".
[16] Time followed up on January 2, 1956, reporting additional arrests and sentencing and the suggestion from Boise psychiatrist John L. Butler, who had been appointed director of the Idaho Department of Mental Health in December 1955, that rather than sentencing the homosexual adults to prison terms, the state should instead "build up community supports for them... One alternative might be to let them form their own society and be left alone.
[note 3] Fairchild was known for his work investigating homosexuals employed by the State Department; the city, the county and the prosecutor's office jointly paid for his services.
[19] When news of the arrests broke, Probation Officer Emery Bess claimed that close to 100 underage boys had been involved in sexual activity with adult men.
Psychiatrist Butler agreed, stating his belief that only 65 boys were involved in any same-sex sexual activity, including mutual masturbation.
[21] On December 15, 1955, three days after Time broke the story and in the wake of closing arguments in the sentencing hearing of Joe Moore, Boise residents held a meeting to discuss the problems of homosexuality and juvenile delinquency.
The meeting, featuring contradictory remarks from the various speakers on the nature of homosexuality and the role of parents in the lives of their children in preventing delinquency, angered many in the community who felt that Butler in particular, whom they viewed as an outsider despite his roots in the city, was casting aspersions on their ability as parents and calling for government interference in the lives of their families.
Frank was the son of Boise city council member and strong investigation proponent Harold T. "Buck" Jones.
Frank was named in a statement given to Blaine Evans by Melvin Dir, an actor and director who had left Boise for San Francisco in the early days of the investigation, in January 1956.
[24] Baker was a key prosecution witness against Moore and other defendants and his involvement in the shooting was one factor which seemed to shift public opinion regarding the witch-hunt.
[note 5] Gerassi deplored how the cases of those homosexuals who were "unchangeable" and only "broke the law" with other adults were handled while calling those who had had sexual contact with teenagers child molesters who were "sick and should have been treated".
"[41] D'Emilio and Freedman, writing two decades after Gerassi's book, situate the Boise panic about homosexuals within the context of Cold War politics and the changes in family life experienced in the 1950s.
[1] D'Emilio and Freedman also discuss how the increasing visibility of gay and lesbian subcultures, particularly in urban areas such as Dallas, Baltimore, New York, Miami, New Orleans, and San Francisco, undermined one of the "props" of Cold War politics: the traditional, heterosexual, nuclear family and its norms of sexuality.
