Content Warning: Sensitive topics surrounding treatment of LGBTQ+ community, e.g. pornography, pimping, exploitation
Mob-run Gay Bars – exploitation?
When homosexuality was illegal in the USA, particularly in the time before the Stonewall Riot that sparked a light in the LGBTQ+ community in 1969, leading to the start of Pride marches nationwide and eventually worldwide, mob-run gay bars were common in the gay scene. The Stonewall Inn itself was secretly owned by Matthew “Matty the Horse” laniello, a high-level caporegime (captain) in the Genovese crime family, a family who had hidden interests in gay bars and porn stores in the Greenwich Village and Times Square neighbourhoods.
The Mafia saw a gap in the market – a rise in people interested in going to nightclubs, bars, etc, and people in the LGBTQ+ community being neglected due to the taboo around their lifestyle (and lack of legal protection) in the 1960s – which they exploited massively, causing unlimited damage to the LGBTQ+ community.
Years of pimping, financial exploitation, the NYPD turning a blind eye to the LGBTQ+ community’s concerns and gossipy FBI files speculating about certain mobsters’ sexualities, put the LGBTQ+ community in a vulnerable position to be used for financial gain to the Mafia at the time.
Intrinsic part of the LGBTQ+ movement
Phillip Crawford Jr., author of the book The Mafia and the Gays, argues that the Mafia’s involvement in these illegal nightspots for the LGBTQ+ community was much more than exploitation – they had a hand in enabling the gay community to thrive and grow.
This is despite of the exploitation and pain the Mafia’s involvement caused the LGBTQ+ community – they fought against this involvement to make their community safer for young people to go to gay bars for safety after being beaten, disowned, and told by society to conform to heteronormative norms (yet, even in this “safe” environment, they ended up getting exploited by the Mafia).
The rise in the gay scene controlled by the Mafia came after the Prohibition laws, as the Mafia was well known for being behind the speakeasies in the big cities. These nightspots thrived in the shadows because the Mafia had experience with operating underground nightspots and paying off the police departments and liquor authorities charged with enforcing these discriminatory laws.
The organised crime happening in gay bars is one of the many reasons that the 1969 protests happened outside the Stonewall Inn. One of the principal goals of activist groups such as the Gay Activists Alliance and the Gay Liberation Front was to get organised crime out of the gay bars.
Change in the Gay Bar scene
The problem of mafia-owned gay bars would continue to be ignored for years after the liberation movement.
One such problem in the clubs was the practice of pimping out gay men in gay bars – an example of this is with Ed “the Skull” Murphy, a former pro wrestler who became a gay bar bouncer, pimped out young gay boys (having a proclivity for young boys) at the bars he worked at.
New York law enforcement tried to investigate the mob’s role in this pimping of underage boys at gay bars in the mid 1970s – however, it got shut down right before the indictment stage because of its implication of powerful people in politics, business, and society.
People in power – the Mafia, politicians, business, etc. – continued to be protected compared to the LGBTQ+ community. This is largely why activists fought to get the Mafia’s control out of the gay scene.
Despite the space the Mafia gave the LGBTQ+ community, it was completely out of their own self-interest and the money they would gain in running gay bars, trafficking drugs, producing pornography, etc. Often, many mobsters were homophobic and had contempt for gay patrons; their tolerance was completely dependent on the money the community brought them.
Gay Bars in Modern LGBTQ+ Community
It took decades for the Mafia to lose its grip on the gay bar scene. The shift happened thanks to societal opinions changing and the work of activists fighting for the exclusion of the Mafia in the gay bar scene.
It tends to be a part of history that some activists shy away from this ugly past – yet history can’t always be squeaky clean. It is important to remember the hardships people have fought through to make the LGBTQ+ community as safe as it is now. There is still a lot to be done to make the LGBTQ+ community safer, but getting the Mafia kicked out of gay bars was a start.
Pride in the Past is Braw Magazine’s new column, written by Sarah de Beer, focussing on the parts of history surrounding LGBTQ+ topics. From exploring the roots of modern terminology to celebrating historical LGBTQ+ figures, Pride in the Past will shine a light on LGBTQ+ history that we don’t want to forget – especially now. This is the second instalment – read the first here.
Featured Image Credit: Pexels.com
Comment Editor
2nd year - History and Journalism student
