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 and “homosexual underworld and ” 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)

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

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