For most of the rest of his life, he was in private practice, although he and Miller co-authored articles about gay subcultures and victims of violent homophobia.
His biography, written by John F. Galliher, Wayne H. Brekhus, and David P. Keys, was published in 2004, under the title Laud Humphreys: Prophet of Homosexuality and Sociology.
[6] The University of Southern California houses the Laud Humphreys Papers Collection, as part of the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives.
Humphreys asserted that the men participating in such activity came from diverse social backgrounds, had differing personal motives for seeking sexual partners in such venues, and variously self-perceived as "straight," "bisexual," or "gay."
Specifically, they put on a "breastplate of righteousness" (social and political conservatism) in an effort to conceal their sexual behavior and prevent being exposed as deviants.
Humphreys tapped into a theme of incongruence between one's words and deeds that has become a primary methodological and theoretical concern in sociology throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
[13] Humphreys' study has been criticized by sociologists and other social and behavioral scientists on ethical grounds[2] in that he observed sexual acts by masquerading as a voyeur, "did not get his subjects’ consent, tracked down names and addresses through license plate numbers, and interviewed the men in their homes in disguise and under false pretenses.
Humphreys' research materials, including detailed diagrams and maps of tearoom activity he observed, are housed in the collections at ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives.
[20] In 2003,[citation needed] the presidential session at the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) was devoted to honoring Humphrey's pioneering work on sexuality.
[15] In 2004, a special issue of The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy was published that was edited by Steven P. Schacht, who participated in the SSSP session.
The special issue contained ten articles analyzing his research and his multiple contributions as a social activist and scholar.
[15] The authors of these articles call for sociologists and others to move beyond criticism of Humphrey's research methodologies in the tearoom study, and instead to focus on his pioneering contributions to the study of sexuality, participant-observation as method, development of sociological theory, and his work as a social activist and advocate for marginalized sexual identities.