The Boys of Boise: Furor, Vice, and Folly in an American City (Columbia Northwest Classics)

Written in 1965 about a same-sex sexual scandal that occurred in 1955 in Boise, Idaho, John Gerassi's classic study depicts both middle America's traditional response to homosexuality and an era in the country's history before the modern gay rights movement really got underway. Because much of what Gerassi wrote about persists in today's struggles over gay and lesbian issues, his book still has much to tell us about how contemporary society reacts to, and misunderstands, homosexuality. -- from the new Foreword by Peter Boag On the morning of November 2, 1955, the people of Boise, Idaho, were stunned by a screaming headline in the Idaho Daily Statesman, THREE BOISE MEN ADMIT SEX CHARGES. Time magazine picked up the story, reporting that a homosexual underworld had long operated in Idaho's staid capital city. The Statesman led the hysteria that resulted in dozens of arrests--including some highly placed members of the community--and sentences ranging from probation to life imprisonment. Peter Boag's Foreword places the book in historical perspective, summarizing the popular psychological theories and legal conceptions that helped to shape Gerassi's research. He discusses advances in Idaho's public approach to homosexuality and ways in which the provincialism chronicled by Gerassi persists to this day. Author description: John Gerassi (July 12, 1931 – July 26, 2012), also known as Tito Gerassi or mononymously Tito, was a French-American leftist professor, journalist, author, scholar, political activist, and revolutionary. He was one of the most important and influential thinkers and participants in the U.S. and International Left movements throughout his lifetime. As a New York Times correspondent he became a supporter of the Cuban revolution, a friend of Che Guevara, and a voice for revolutionary movements throughout Latin American and the world. Gerassi also worked as a professor of political science at Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City College of New York. He authored 14 books, including Jean-Paul Sartre: Hated Conscience of His Century. Foreword to the 2001 Paperback Edition by Peter Boag Preface to the 2001 Paperback Edition Introduction to the Original Edition Chronology 1. Crush the Monster 2. The Repairman and the Banker 3. The Client 4. The Boys 5. From Whores to Adults 6. High Eagle 7. The Curtain Falls 8. The First Day of Reckoning 9. The Homosexual and the Analyst 10. The Gay World 11. The Murderer and the West Point Cadet 12. Public Poverty and Private Power 13. Mormons, Negroes and Birchers 14. The Second Day of Reckoning 15. “The Communist Plot” 16. The Trial—Round One 17. The Trial—Round Two 18. The Trial—Round Three and Knockout! 19. Conclusion APPENDIX A. Motion for Withholding Judgment APPENDIX B. Motion for New Trial I. Implication of guilt by association II. Implication of guilt by language III. Prosecutor Evans’ erring summation IV. Hearsay V. New evidence VI. The tape recording VII. Unacceptable confession VIII. Improper handling APPENDIX C, Smith’s Affidavit APPENDIX D. Dr. Butler’s Affidavit APPENDIX E. The Prejudice of the Press APPENDIX F. The Uninspected Confession Index In 1955, a manufactured scandal, pushed by the Idaho Daily Statesman and conservative elites, rocked the city of Boise, Idaho with charges of a widespread homosexual underworld and a number of convictions of members of the Boise community to sentences ranging from probation to life imprisonment. Written ten years later, this piece of investigative journalism recounts the origins of the probe and discusses the trials that followed. Gerassi (political science, Queens College, New York) argues that the trials should be placed in the context of Cold War anti-Communist hysteria and that the charges were a way for a conservative elite to attack progressive and reform-minded Boise citizens. A brief foreword places the work in the historical context of society's understanding of homosexuality in 1965. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) A classic account of a 1950s sex scandal that depicts middle America's traditional response to homosexuality