In New York – home to the largest gay population in the U.S. – police aggressively and systematically targeted places frequented by gay men. If arrested, a person’s name, age, address and crime would be published as part of the police blotter in most local newspapers across the U.S. For example, if a man was arrested for committing a “homosexual” act in Dayton, Ohio, his information would be published in the Dayton Daily News. Such publication often had disastrous consequences for the person “outed” in print. Many were disowned by their family, fired from their workplace or dishonorably discharged from the military. Some were targeted for assault or murder. Gay men, therefore, were forced underground. Christopher Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village became a fairly safe locale with bars and coffee shops that surreptitiously catered to a LGBTQ clientele.
