In 1962, the Mansfield (Ohio) Police Department stationed officers armed with a movie camera behind a two-way mirror in a public restroom known for its "cruisy" atmosphere. With the help of the footage shot, dozens of men were arrested, prosecuted, and convicted on
sodomy charges, which at the time carried mandatory minimum sentences of a year in prison. In 2007, the original surveillance footage was obtained by filmmaker
William E.
Jones. He's screened the unedited 56 minute film as
Tearoom at festivals and museums the world over, providing a clandestine look at the scrutiny small-town Midwestern gay men faced in the 1960's. [
warning:
explicit,
NSFW material lies beyond most links]
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posted by item
on Feb 9, 2012 -
81 comments
The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime. Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government.
- Justice Anthony Kennedy
John Geddes Lawrence, the defendant in
the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that declared sodomy laws unconstitutional across the country, died on Nov. 20, according to
an obituary posted by R.S. Farmer Funeral Home in Silsbee, Texas. He was 68.
[more inside]
posted by rtha
on Dec 28, 2011 -
33 comments
In 1955, at least twelve men in Boise, Idaho were arrested for
"infamous crimes against nature.". In the resulting dragnet, the vice president of the Idaho First National Bank was
sentenced to seven years in prison, while national magazines fomented a McCarthyite
Lavender Scare with headlines such as
Male Pervert Ring Seduces 1,000 Boys. This dark chapter in
Idaho gay history was documented in both John Gerassi's 1966 book,
The Boys of Boise and the recent film,
The Fall of '55, by documentarian
Seth Randal, but neither Gerassi nor Randal could identify
The Queen, a closeted but politically connected homosexual who allegedly used his massive clout to stop the witch hunt.
posted by jonp72
on Aug 28, 2007 -
45 comments
Eygption Police officer use a cellphone to film a man being sodomized by police. Egyptian opposition media have claimed that in the police academy, recruits are trained to use torture to extract confessions. (NSFW)
video on youtube.
posted by IronWolve
on Jan 22, 2007 -
51 comments
The first lawsuit in the wake of
Lawrence v. Texas was filed today.
Lieutenant Colonel Steve Loomis is a decorated Vietnam combat veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart, who was eight days away from his twenty year retirement date and a million dollar pension, when an arsonist set fire to his home. A private sex tape involving Loomis was found during the arson investigation, and turned over to the Army.
Shortly there after LTC Loomis was discharged, losing his pension, because he was gay.
His complaint[PDF] seeks to reverse his 1997 discharge.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood
on Jul 8, 2003 -
46 comments
Malasia's attitude to sodomy and politics is brought into graphic focus by this bizarre news story in which an ex leader of the country has been sentenced to nine years in prison for sodomy. His brother has been sentenced to six years and four lashes with a rattan cane. Human rights violations literally up the wazoo...
posted by barbelith
on Aug 8, 2000 -
3 comments
Louisiana's Supreme Court has upheld a two-century-old law that makes
oral and anal sex between consenting adults punishable by up to five years in jail. Where they're liable to have...you guessed it... oral and anal sex. Good thinking.
"Any claim that private sexual conduct between consenting adults is constitutionally insulated from state proscription is unsupportable," Justice Chet Traylor wrote for the majority. It was hard for me to imagine a learned adjudicator uttering such nonsense, until I repeated it out loud in a slow, Boss Hogg drawl...
posted by quonsar
on Jul 9, 2000 -
23 comments
