Murder, Perversion and Moral Panic: The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami&#39;s Homosexuals

Fred  Fejes

As the population swelled, and land development swallowed up the hammocks and miles of open beach, Miami was quickly changing from a leisurely resort community to a modern metropolis, replete with the prob? lems and tensions of a major urban area. These problems were exacerbated by the "lack of deep-rootedness" ofthe population. Many came to the area because of climate, not because of economic opportunity. Many were only part-time residents, returning North for the summer. For those seeking to be full-time residents, it was often difficult to find jobs or start businesses and the turnover in population was fairly large.8

University of Texas Press Murder, Perversion, and Moral Panic: The 1954 Media Campaign against Miami's Homosexuals and the Discourse of Civic Betterment Author(s): Fred Fejes Source: Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Jul., 2000), pp. 305-347 Published by: University of Texas Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3704569 . Accessed: 02/03/2011 20:06 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=texas. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. University of Texas Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the History of Sexuality. http://www.jstor.org Murder, Perversion, and Moral Panic: The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals and the Discourse of Civic Betterment FRED FEJES Department of Communications Florida Atlantic University On the night OFWednesday, July 6,1954, seven-year-old Judith Ann Roberts was kidnapped from her grandparents' modest southwest Miami home where she had arrived a few days prior with her parents and younger sister for a visit. While her grandparents and mother slept?her father was out that evening dining with a friend?the kidnapper entered an unlocked rear door, passed through the grandparents' bedroom, stealing car keys from the grandfather's pants hanging on the bedpost, and then abducted young Roberts from her makeshift bed on the living room couch. Roberts's grandmother awoke to the sound of the family's car driving off and dis? covered the young girl missing. By the time the father returned home, the police had been alerted and were on the scene. When Roberts's naked body was found the next morning in a beach area a few miles from the house, she was blindfolded, her hands tied behind her back. She had been hit repeatedly in the face hard enough that her teeth had been jarred loose. She had been sexually assaulted, a tree branch found pushed up into her vagina. According to the coroner, she died by strangulation with her night- gown used as a garrote.1 The author wishes to thank John Champagne, Michael Budd, Lynn Appleton, Davis Houck, Tom Leonard, Susan Brown, Eugene Patron, and an anonymous reviewer for their com? ments, suggestions, and/or assistance on earlier drafts of this article. Also the author wishes to acknowledge the generous assistance of the staffs of the Florida Room of the Miami/ Dade Public Library and the Stonewall Library and Archives of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 1Miami Herald, July 8, 1954, see. A, pp. 1, 8; "Judith Ann Roberts: A Loss of Inno? cence," Tropics{Miami Herald Sunday Magazine), February 25, 1990, pp. 14-15. Journalofthe Historyof Sexuality,Vol. 9, No. 3, July2000 ? 2000 by the Universityof TexasPress,P.O. Box 7819, Austin,TX 78713-7819 305 306 Fred Feies Within hours, an intense police hunt for the murderer was unleashed. Because Roberts had been sexually molested, police defined this as a "sex crime" and the likely suspect a "sex pervert." The afternoon tabloid, the Miami Daily News, reported the police search in its late edition with the large front-page headline: "Manhunt Is On For Fiend: Cops Round Up Child Molesters."2 As was common practice at the time, police descended upon local bars known to cater to homosexuals, bringing men in for ques- tioning.3 All were released. The police continued their nightly visits to the bars, taking down the names and addresses of all the customers to check for a criminal record. These efforts turned up a few cases of minors being served?the bar owners were fined?but no suspects. After a few days the police turned their attention to other leads.4 The brutality and sexual nature ofthe murder?along with its seemingly random, anonymous character?shocked the city. The Roberts case was the first in the fifty-nine-year history of Miami involving the sexual molestation and murder of a child and occurred at a time when the city was undergoing rapid growth and transformationfrom a pre-war resort community to a postwar major metropolis.5 Additionally, the murder prompted a new aware? ness of Miami's homosexuals?an awareness heightened four weeks later by the murder of a young male airline steward by two teenage hustlers. Previ? ously homosexuals had been regarded as a colorful if somewhat embarrass- ing part of the Miami nightlife and beach scene; now they were seen as a serious threat to the safety and moral wellbeing ofthe community. The connection between murders and the presence of homo? these sexuals in Miami?a presence now seen as creating a moral and criminal menace?was symptomatic of that particular moment in Miami's history 2Miami News, July 7, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 3James(Barr) Fugate, "A Homosexual Looks at the Child Molester," Mattachine Review 11:2 (January 1956): 6-10. In searching for historical precedents to the Roberts case, the Miami Herald referred to the kidnap-mutilation murders ofa six-year-old girl and two older women eight years earlierin Chicago. As in Miami, the first response by Chicago police was to round up homosexuals as possible suspects. As was typical, such roundups produced few viable suspects. In the Chicago case the murdererturned out to be a seventeen-year-oldUniversity of Chicago student who was later committed to the penitentiary for the criminallyinsane. Her? ald, July 10,1954, see. A, p. 7; Estelle B. Freedman, "'Uncontrolled Desires': The Response to the Sexual Psychopath, 1920-1960," in Passion and Power: Sexuality and History, ed. Kathy Peiss and ChristinaSimmons (Philadelphia:Temple University Press, 1989), 199-225. A rare glimpse into the reaction of homosexuals to such treatment is found in a letter one wrote to a friend at the time ofthe Chicago murders:"I suppose you read about the kidnaping and murder ofthe little girl?I noticed tonight that they thought in their damn self-righteous way that perhaps a pervert had done it and they rounded up all the females (male homosexu? als)?they blame us for everything and incidentally it is more and more in the limelight every- day?why don't they round us up and kill us I don't know." Ibid., n. 25. AHerald,July 12, 1954, see. B, p. 1. 5Herald, July 8, 1954, see. D, p. 3. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami^s Homosexuals 307 in which a number of significant social and media discourses and practices about sexuality, criminality, and civic betterment converged. Taking place during a period of heightened national anxiety about "sex crimes" when various forms of sexual expression and identity were criminalized, the murders marked the beginning ofa moral panic whose target was Miami's homosexuals.6 From July to early September 1954, media coverage ex- tended and amplified the threat posed by homosexuals. In October, local government took action and Miami passed a law aimed at closing down bars catering to homosexuals. The campaign against the city's homosexu? als was initiated and led by the media, particularly the Miami Herald, as part of their effort to create and enforce new sets of social and cultural standards and boundaries on activities and identities which were previ- ously only laxly regulated. This, in turn, was part of an overall campaign by the city's media and civic leaders to redefine the image of Miami as a major, respected urban center, free of the vice and flamboyance which characterized its short history. The overall result of these events was that while previously Miami's homosexuals were regarded with an attitude of discreet tolerance?official permissiveness and public silence, they were now treated with an attitude of stigmatized tolerance?official permissive? ness and public condemnation. 6See Freedman, "Uncontrolled Desires"; George Chauncey, "The Postwar Sex Crime Panic," in True Storiesfrom the American Past, ed. William Graeber (New York:McGraw- Hill, 1993), 160-79. The concept of moral panic has been used in cultural and media studies and in the sociology of deviance to analyze situations whereby a "condition, epi- sode, person or groups of persons emerge to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests." Stanley Cohen, Folk Devils and Moral Panics (Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1980), 9. Although moral panics have occurred throughout history, in the 20th century the media have come to occupy a central element in their development as they "provid[e], maintain[...] and 'polic[e]' the available frameworks and definitions of deviance, which structure both public awareness of and attitudes toward social problems." Tim O'Sullivan, Key Conceptsin Communication and Cultural Studies, 2d ed. (London: Routiedge, 1994), 186. Analytically, a modern media-driven moral panic can be divided into three stages: (1) An event or/and a group attract extensive media coverage that leads to defining a primary frame of reference in which subsequent events are interpreted; (2) Expanded coverage am- plifies the initial frame and interprets the event and/or the group as threats to the larger moral order of society and as reflecting the breakdown of society; and (3) In response to the panic, greater state regulation and control are initiated as a means of "solving the prob? lem." Moreover, the perceived threat is all out of proportion to the actual reality. The literature on moral panics is extensive. For booklength summaries and discussions, see Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda, Moral Panics: TheSocial Constructionof^Deviance(Cam? bridge, MA: Blackwell, 1994); Philip Jenkins, Intimate Enemies: Moral Panics in Contem? porary Great Britain (New York:Aldine de Gruyter, 1992); and Kenneth Thompson, Moral Panics (London: Routiedge, 1998); see also Gayle Rubin, "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radi- cal Theory ofthe Politics of Sexuality," in Pleasure and Danger: The Politics of Sexuality, ed. Carol Vance (Boston: Routiedge and Kegan Paul, 1982), 267-319. 308 Fred Fejes This moral panic and the events associated with it are also noteworthy because they represent a major early engagement between the nascent postwar United States homosexual rights movement, in this case repre- sented by America's first homosexual publication, ONE, and the state and media forces, which sought to enforce a heterosexual orthodoxy The panic was shaped by OjNTE's publicizing the fact that Miami, up until then, had a policy of not harassing or raiding bars catering to homosexuals. The claim that Miami might be perceived throughout the nation as a city where the rights of homosexuals received a limited measure of respect and thus was a tolerable place for homosexuals to live, was enough to fuel an in- tense effort to stigmatize homosexuality. Miami and the Miami Herald Miami was founded in 1896 when Henry Flagler, partner of John D. Rockefeller and pioneer promoter of Florida as a winter paradise, extended his Florida East Coast Railroad south sixty miles from the wealthy resort town of Palm Beach to the Miami River. Initially, like Palm Beach, the city was meant to be a play ground for the wealthy, and much of its early history was shaped by attempts of land developers such as George Merrick (Coral Gables) and Carl Fisher (Miami Beach) to create an American Riviera, re- plete with Mediterranean-style architecture and street names. Miami, how? ever, quickly evolved into a democratic beach paradise, offering solace from harsh northern winters not only to the well-to-do, but also to thousands of more modest means. The land boom ofthe 1920s, during which developers hired the "Great Commoner" William Jennings Bryan to hawk Miami real estate, attracted thousands of new residents to the area, many traveling by automobiles along routes like the "Dixie Highway" especially designated by land developers to bring prospective buyers from the Midwest into South Florida. The boom ended in early 1926 and that September a major hurri- cane devastated the city. Although the Depression put a brake on further growth, by the late 1930s the area was again thriving, fueled by an influx of tourists and new residents. Even though World War II temporarily ended the tourist trade, any economic ill effects were quickly offset by the area becoming a major military training site, with many ofthe hotels serving as barracks. After the war energetic expansion resumed, with many of those who in the area during the war returning to live there. Between trained 1945 and 1955 the population of Miami and surrounding Dade County grew 126 percent (from 315,138 to 713,100)7 7Allen Morris, comp., The Florida Handbook,1947-1948 (Tallahassee, FL: Peninsular Publishing Company, 1946), 165; Bureau of Economic and Business Research, College of Business Administration, Florida Statistical Abstract 1967 (Gainesville: University of Florida, 1967), 24, 26. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 309 As the population swelled, and land development swallowed up the hammocks and miles of open beach, Miami was quickly changing from a leisurely resort community to a modern metropolis, replete with the prob? lems and tensions of a major urban area. These problems were exacer- bated by the "lack of deep-rootedness" ofthe population. Many came to the area because of climate, not because of economic opportunity. Many were only part-time residents, returning North for the summer. For those seeking to be full-time residents, it was often difficult to find jobs or start businesses and the turnover in population was fairly large.8 This "rootlessness" ofthe population was further increasedby the highly fragmented of character local politics.9 Much ofthe political scene ofthe first half-century was dominated by the needs ofthe land developers and the dominant tourist economy. Developers particularly made use of then 8EdwardSofen, TheMiami Metropolitan Experiment (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1963), 6-11. Sofen cites a 1960 study that reports that during the period January- June 1960, Mayflower Transit Company moved 410 families into Miami and 320 moved out. Ibid., 268, n. 4. Although the major southernmost city in the continental United States, Miami?devel? oped and settled in this century by people from the Midwest and the Northeast?shares little in common with the history, culture, politics, and institutions of other cities of the American South. Christian churches, for example, particularly Baptist churches, which play a prominent role in the life of other southern cities, exercised little influence over public affairs. During the summer 1954 campaign against homosexual bars in Miami, there was no mention in the media of any role played, or even a public statement by, local church leaders. In contrast, in Atlanta during the 1950s, local churches often played a major part in spur- ring on crackdowns on homosexual public sex. John Howard, "The Library, the Park and the Pervert:Public Space and Homosexual Encounter in Post-World WarII Atlanta," Radical History Review 62 (1995): 166-87. The Miami media coverage framed the events of sum? mer 1954 in terms of civic morality and values, with no mention of religion or biblical prohibitions against homosexuality. The one area in which Miami shared similarities with other southern cities was in racial relations. Segregation was rigidly enforced and during the 1920s and 1930s the Ku Klux Klan was active in Miami, organizing a number of public demonstrations to discourage African Americans from voting. In contrast to the character and pattern of white migration to Miami, many African Americans migrated to Miami from other southern states and the Bahamas, seeking jobs in agriculture, construction, and the hotel and service industries. Their degree of transience was far less than that ofthe white population. Yet, even in this area, Miami's experience was different from that of other southern cities. Segregation, par? ticularly residential segregation, was promoted by the major land developers, all of them northerners, to insure that the "tropical paradise" image of Miami remain "lily white" in order to attract white northern buyers. Marvin Dunn, Black Miami in the Twentieth Cen? tury (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1997). 9The "amorphous" character of Dade County in many ways reflected the state of poli? tics in Florida in general during that era. As described by V. O. Key in his classic study of postwar southern politics, Florida was "the southern state with the most disintegrated and least-stable structure of political organizations." (V. O. Key Jr., SouthernPolitics [New York: Knopf, 1955], 99, n. 15; 83-87); Sofen, 1-7. 310 Fred Fejes existing Florida law that allowed municipalities to be created with as few as twenty-five persons in an area voting for incorporation. As a result new developments quickly became full-fledged cities with the powers of taxa- tion and regulation.10 By 1950 there were twenty-six municipalities in Dade County, all of them jealously guarding their prerogatives and power. Moreover countywide government was highly atomized; county voters elected no fewer than thirty-nine officers, including five county commis- sioners, ten heads of independent county departments, fourteen judges, five constables and five justices ofthe peace. This situation, along with the lack of leadership from any strong countywide political interest or commu? nity groups such as unions, industry, church or business groups or party organizations, gave Dade County politics a highly disjointed character. In this political vacuum, Miami's newspapers came to assume a powerful leadership role in defining community goals. Through extensive news cover- age and strong editorial support, the newspapers often succeeded in mobi- lizing public opinion and affecting action by local government.11 During the 1930s Miami Mwpublisher Daniel Mahoney and Dade County state sena? tor Ernest G. Graham developed a political partnership that controlled local patronage and delivered votes to local and state candidates.12 In the 1940s the Miami Herald, the morning newspaper with circulation dominance since the 1920s, began to emerge as a powerful political force in its own right, both in local and state politics, being the only newspaper having state- wide circulation and news coverage. The Herald began publishing in 1910, and its growth reflected the city's boom and bust history13 For thirteen months in 1925 and 1926 during the land boom, the newspaper was the largest newspaper in the world in terms of business volume, reaching 42.5 million lines of advertising and running 60-80 pages daily and 120 pages on Sunday.14 However, the subsequent crash in land sales, the 1926 hurricane, and then the Depression reduced the newspaper in size and profitability. In 1937 it was acquired by John S. and James L. Knight, whose family owned 10PollyRedford, Billion-Dollar Sandbar: A Biography of Miami Beach (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1970), 73; Sofen, 14-16. nEdward C. Banfield, "Miami (Dade County): Yes, But . . . ," in Big City Politics, ed. Edward C. Banfield (New York: Random House, 1965), 94-106. 12Sofen, 8; Hennig Heldt, "Heaven or Honky-Tonk," in Our Fair City, ed. Robert Alien (New York: Vanguard Press, 1947), 77-99; Nixon Smiley, Knights ofthe Fourth Es- tate: The Story of Miami Herald (Miami: E. A. Seaman, 1974), 118. 13TheMiami News-Record, the Herald's predecessor, was the city's first daily newspa? per, started in 1903. In 1910, it was acquired by Henry Flagler who made Frank Shutts, an Indiana attorney working for Flagler, the publisher.Shutts reorganized the paper and changed its name to the Miami Herald. Two years later Shutts bought the paper from Flagler. Smiley, 21-36. 14Smiley,54. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 311 and ran the Akron (Ohio) Beacon-Journal. As the Knight brothers began to acquire other newspapers, the Herald became part of a publishing group that by 1950 included the Detroit Free Press and the Chicajjo Daily News. James L. Knight concentrated his attention on the business side ofthe Mi? ami operations while John Knight focused on the newspaper in Detroit. By 1954 the Herald was the largest circulation newspaper in Florida, with a daily readership of 233,000 (Sunday 274,000), almost twice the size of its nearest competitor, the afternoon tabloid, the Miami News (118,000 daily; 105,000 Sunday).15 Being part ofa chain that included other major city newspapers imbued the Herald with a level of professionalism, a broad cosmopolitan outlook, and sense of the press's power and responsibility that became reflected in the newspaper's design and makeup, its coverage of local, state, national, and international events, and its strong editorial positions.16 Under the guid- ance of John Pennekamp, who became editorial page editor in 1941 and Lee Hills, who was hired as city editor in 1942 but quickly assumed respon- sibilities as managing editor, the paper began to shape the city's agenda. Hills revamped the Herald\ operation and was responsible for its emer- gence as a newspaper with a national and international reputation. In 1951 he assumed the post of executive editor ofthe DetroitFree Press, while still officially remaining as general manager ofthe Miami newspaper.17 Hired as a reporter by the newspaper in 1925, Pennekamp had devel? oped a very close knowledge of Miami, its politics, and its business leaders. In charge ofthe newspaper's editorial policy, he felt that whenever the news? paper took a stand, the full weight of the newsroom should be thrown behind it.18 He emerged in the 1940s as a political figure in his own right, being known as "Mr. Miami Herald." Local figures never asked "how the Herald viewed an issue, they wanted to know what Pennekamp thought."19 He was credited with being the nearest thing to a "political boss" that Miami had at that time.20 In spite ofhis powerful position at the newspaper, he never considered himself part ofthe power structure of Miami; rather he often regarded the activities of local political and civic leaders with skepti- cism and suspicion, an attitude that was reflected on the editorial page, to the dismay ofthe more civically and socially gregarious Knight brothers. l5Ayer Directory of'Newspapersand Periodicals 1954 (Philadelphia: Ayer Press, 1954), 179. 16Bythe mid-1940s the Herald had a number of reporters assigned to foreign beats and began to develop extensive coverage of Latin America, including a special "Air Edition" for distribution in Latin America. Smiley, 215-16. 17Ibid., 184-95. 18Ibid.,283. 19Ibid.,202. 20Sofen, 8-9. 3.12 Fred Fejes Under Pennekamp's leadership, the Herald engaged in numerous cam? paigns on behalf of civic improvement and political reform. Seeing that political fragmentation hindered the development and delivery of govern- ment services, the newspaper in 1945 began to push for countywide con- solidation ofthe governmental, health, and educational functions that were then under taken by numerous local municipal boards and commissions. Meeting great resistance from local interests and governmental bodies, the Herald engaged in a 12-year crusade, which ultimately resulted in the 1957 adoption ofthe Metro-Charter, fundamentally reorganizing county government and giving it broad powers.21 Pennekamp's interests extended beyond municipal matters. His strong advocacy of preserving South Florida's natural environment helped bring about the creation ofthe Ev- erglades National Park in 1947.22 A major campaign undertaken in the late 1940s fundamentally reshaped the city's identity as a tolerant, laid-back winter playground.23 As a city highly dependent on tourist dollars, Miami had a relatively lax attitude toward gambling and other vices such as prostitution and (during Prohi- bition) alcohol. The Knight brothers viewed gambling as a harmless pas- time and themselves frequented the private gambling clubs in the city. However, by the late 1940s, Miami was developing a national reputation as a wide-open town. Particularly troublesome was the fact that the area was seen as being a "neutral zone" for major crime syndicate figures who would winter in the city with little harassment from local law enforcement officials. Many ofthe local gambling operations were being taken over by syndicate figures and being conducted not only in casinos, but also openly in hotel lobbies. Payoffs to local officials had reached major proportions. Moreover, such illegal gambling competed with the local legalized horse- and dog-racing tracks and diverted potential tax receipts. To Pennekamp and Hills, the situation was growing intolerable. Not only was the level of local corruption rising, but the national reputation that Miami was ac- quiring seemed to be discouraging "desirable citizens who might other- wise settle in Dade."24 They convinced the Knight brothers to change their views and support efforts by the newspaper to conduct a major cam? paign against gambling and local corruption. In many ways this campaign reflected a new attitude developing in postwar Miami as the city matured and the number of permanent residents increased. Gambling and other vices, which had been tolerated in pre-war years as necessary to attract 21Smiley,277-89. Alejandro Portes and Alex Stepick, City on the Edge: The Transforma- tion of Miami (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), 83-87. 22Smiley,217-27. 23Ibid., 237-48. 24Ibid.,241. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 313 tourist dollars, were no longer seen as desirable to the civic landscape of this fast-developing metropolis. Moreover, as the situation worsened, other Florida resort cities, as one local observer noted at the time, "were win- ning the orderly, substantial tourist who can't find the quiet and decorous life they seek in rowdy Miami."25 Working with newspaper editors from major northern cities, Hills com- piled information about major crime syndicate figures who were infiltrating the Miami area. In early 1948 six community leaders?James Knight, Dan Mahoney oftheNews, the presidents ofthe area's major utility and major department store, and the owners ofthe local horse-racing track and major local radio station?met to map out a strategy to deal with the crime prob? lem. Dubbed "the secret six," the group was the nucleus of what officially became later that year the Crime Commission of Greater Miami. They hired Daniel P. Sullivan, a former FBI agent, as director. Over the next two years the Commission conducted investigations into the presence and activities of major crime syndicate figures in Miami and the corruption of local offi? cials. These investigations were well publicized in the local media, particu? larly the Miami Herald. The campaign culminated in July 1950, when the United States Senate Crime Investigating Committee headed by Senator Estes Kefauver held hearings in Miami about the local crime situation. The hearings exposed the wide extent of corruption and led to the immediate suspension ofthe Dade County sheriff and other local officials. Finding the widespread publicity unwelcome, many crime syndicate figures transferred their activities to Havana or Reno, Nevada, and most illegal gambling places were closed down. In the words of one Herald reporter, later describing the outcome, "a refreshing new atmosphere prevailed in Dade . . . the cleanest atmosphere Miami had experienced since its founding."26 For its part in achieving this, the Herald was awarded the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The Crime Commission continued its existence as a power? ful private civic watchdog. From this campaign the Herald emerged as not only the most powerful local political voice, but also the guardian ofa new civic respectability and morality. "Discreet Tolerance" and Miami's Homosexuals Accompanying Miami's postwar growth and transformation was the ap- pearance ofa visible homosexual subculture, a phenomenon paralleling the emergence of similar subcultures in other major cities throughout the na? tion. In the years immediately after World War II, homosexuals, both male and female, many of them returning from military service or from work in 25Heldt, 90. 26Smiley,248. 314 Fred Fejes war-time industries, started gathering in urban centers to create the begin- nings of modern lesbian/gay communities and culture.27 Miami, a significant U.S. Army training base during the war, was an attractive desti- nation for many returning army personnel, including homosexuals who had been in military service.28 Also during the early postwar era, there was a slow but growing public awareness that homosexuality was not a rare psy? chological disorder and that homosexuals existed at all levels of American society. The 1948 publication and popular reception of Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (followed in 1953 with the Sexual Behavior in the HumanFemale) publicized the notion that homosexuality was within the range of normal human sexual behavior and was far more prevalent than previously thought.29 Concomitant with the growth of homosexual subcultures and increas- ing public awareness was the emergence of a nascent homosexual rights movement. In 1950 a small group of Los Angeles homosexuals who had been active in various progressive political causes founded the Mattachine Society. Although at first highly secretive in nature?its founders were very sensitive to the growing Cold War atmosphere of political reaction? the Mattachine Society was the first organization in the United States to address effectively the oppression of homosexuals.30 Both in the pre-war and early postwar years in Miami, homosexuality, along with gambling and prostitution, met with an attitude of discreet toler? ance. One ofthe first bars openly catering to homosexuals opened in Miami Beach in 1938 and featured drag shows. With the return ofthe tourist trade after the war, elaborately staged drag shows became a popular part of Miami nightlife. The Miami Herald ran explicit advertisements for the clubs?they were often placed next to the regular theater advertisements, and the shows were promoted as featuring female impersonators and being "Gay, gay, gay!"?along with laudatory reviews ofthe performances.31 27John D'Emilio, Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making ofa Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983), 23-39. Prior to the war only a few major cities like New York had visible homosexual subcultures. See George Chauncey, Gay New Tork:Gender, Urban Culture and the Making ofthe Gay Male World(New York: Basic Books, 1994). 28AllanBerube, Coming Out Under Fire: The History ofGay Men and Womenin World War Two (New York: Penguin, 1991). ONE estimated that by the mid-1950s, roughly 30,000 male adult Miamians "have engaged in overtly homosexual acts" and that "4,000 Miamians are homosexuals for life." These figures are extrapolations from Kinsey's figures for Miami's population. (Lyn Pedersen, "Miami's New Witchhunt," ONE, April-May 1956, pp. 8-12). 29JamesJones, Alfred C. Kinsey:a Public/Private Life (New York:Norton, 1997), 534- 63, 601-35; Miriam Grace Reumann, "American Sexual Character in the Age of Kinsey" (Ph.D. diss., Brown University, 1998); D'Emilio, 33-37. 3?D'Emilio, 63-70. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 315 Miami Beach in particular had a thriving gay scene with a number of bars featuring drag shows and the area around the 22nd Street beach was particularly noted as a gathering place for homosexuals.32 Outside the en? tertainment clubs, "males with a feminine bent"33 were at best oddities or at worst a nuisance. While their public behavior no doubt was distasteful to many, they were not perceived as a serious threat to the public morals, safety, or order of Miami. Under Florida's sodomy law dating back to 1868, homosexual acts, defined as "crime[s] against nature," could be and were prosecuted, particularly those occurring in the parks and other public places.34 However, there were no laws against being a homosexual, acting like a homosexual, or congregating with homosexuals. Although the police had well-established ways of harassing homosexuals, such as arresting them for vagrancy, such methods were used sporadically, typi- cally after a number of complaints had been filed.35 Moreover, attitudes varied among municipalities and different law enforcement agencies. Mi? ami Beach city police and the Dade County sheriff's department, which could undertake raids in any part of the county, typically carried out ha- rassment of homosexuals.36 31Eugene Patron, "Jackie Jacksoft: The Life and Times of a Dixie Belle," The Weekly News (Miami), October 12, 1994, pp. 7-8; George Burke, "Night Life," Herald, Decem? ber 5,1951, see. A, p.19; advertisements for Club Jewel Box, Leon and Eddie's, and Circus Bar, ibid. Jackie Jackson, a well-known drag star of the era, recalled that local politicians and city officials attended his shows and that he received an official police escort to his performance at the 1948 Policeman's Ball. In one ofthe novels in the popular "The Saint" detective series, the action was set in early 1940s Miami, and the Saint was taken by his (female) date to a gambling casino on the outskirts ofthe city, where he noticed that among the clientele "... some ofthe groups of highly made-up girls who sat at inferior tables with an air of hoping to be invited to better ones were a trifle sinewy in the arms and neck, while on the other hand some ofthe delicate-featured young men who sat apart from them were too well-developed in the chest for the breadth of their shoulders. Those eccentricities were standard in the honky-tonks of Miami." Leslie Charteris, The Saint in Miami (Leicester: Ulverscroft, 1973 [London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1941]), 206-7. Later the Saint's male accomplice made advances toward the attractive female performer in the casino, only to find that she was a man in drag. 32AnnArmbuster, The Life and Times of Miami Beach (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995), 121. ^Herald, November 21, 1954; see. B, p. 1. 34FloridaStatutes Chapter 800.01 (1957); Richard T. Jones, "Sodomy?Crime or Sin?" University of Florida Law Review 12 (1959): 83-92. 35UnderMiami's vagrancy ordinance those without a visible means of support could be arrested. When the ordinance was enacted in 1930 it was aimed at Al Capone, who had established winter residence in the city. James E. Buchanan, ed. and comp., Miami: a Chro- nological and Documentary History, 1513-1977 (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1978), 27. 36Miami Beach also enacted local legislation in 1952 and 1953 aimed at shutting down drag shows; Herald, November 5, 1953, see. A, p. 9. The city took the lead in 316 Fred Fejes However, in Miamiproper, homosexuals received a limited degree of tolerance, at least from the city police. Since assuming office in 1948, Miami chief of police Walter Headley followed a policy of allowing bars that catered to homosexuals to operate undisturbed. Headley defended the policy as allowing the police to keep track of "sex perverts." More- over, he noted that it was difficult to prosecute homosexuals on charges such as vagrancy "because they had such good jobs."37 In Miami drag shows also remained a popular form of entertainment. Newspaper coverage dealing with homosexuals during this period? scant as it was?reflected this attitude of discreet tolerance. In January 1951, in one ofthe largest bar raids in Miami history, county sheriff's deputies acting on the complaints of neighboring businesses arrested 112 patrons ofthe Latin American Club, a downtown Miami private bar, on charges of vagrancy. According to the Herald report, when the raid was announced, "an assortment of blonde wigs and women's hats" along with legally restricting public expressions of sexual nonconformity because of a number of factors. Since the city had most of the area's public beaches, many of its major resort hotels, and a number ofthe bars with drag shows, the "beach scene" often lent itself to forms of dress and behavior not found in other parts of the county. However, the con? cern over regulating public non-criminal behavior was also based in the cultural politics ofthe city. As noted by Deborah Dash Moore, To the Golden Cities: Pursuing the Ameri? can Jewish Dream in Miami and L.A. (New York: Free Press, 1994), the city was a very attractive destination for many Jews from the Northeast, both winter tourists and those who desired to relocate to a warmer climate. In Miami Beach, they faced open anti- Semitism and discrimination, with many hotels and apartment buildings refusing accom- modations. However, with the steady increase in their numbers?by 1947 nearly half of the 46,000 city residents were Jewish (Armbuster, 105)?they began to elect local offi? cials and exercise greater political power. In 1949 the Miami Beach city council enacted a law prohibiting discrimination based on religion or race in the advertisement of public accommodations, a law for which the city received international recognition, and while not outlawing such discrimination, made it less overt (Moore, 154-55). While struggling against anti-Semitism, political and civic leaders ofthe Jewish community were also con- cerned that many non-Jewish Americans associated the vulgar and flamboyant behaviors found in Miami Beach with an image of the Jewish nouveau riche, thus fueling anti- Semitic sentiment. Drag shows were only one object of their concern. For example in the late 1940s the Anti-Defamation League commissioned a short animated film feature, titled "The Vacationers'" to guide Jewish tourists visiting Miami. Among the behaviors criticized were loud animated conversations on street corners, card playing on hotel porches, elbowing one's way to the front ofthe line, and loud arguments in hotel corridors (Moore, 35; Personal Communication from Art Rosen, February 4, 1998). Bernard Frank, the Miami Beach council member who introduced the legislation banning drag shows, also urged his fellow council members and city employees to wear white suits to work and to council meetings to restore the "lost glamour" of Miami Beach, Herald, July 10, 1954, see. B, p. 1. 37Quoted in James Sears, LonelyHunters: An Oral History of Lesbian and Gay Southern Life, 1948-1968 (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1997), 20. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami^s Homosexuals 317 marijuana cigarettes dropped to the floor. Noting that there were a num? ber of side rooms with mattresses on the floor, the deputy in charge pro- nounced the Latin American Club a "hangout for sex perverts" and the people arrested of "dubious moral character." The story made no men? tion of homosexuals, nor whether the crowd was predominantly male or female. However, the reporter noted that most of those arrested were young, well dressed, and "obviously making their first trip to jail." The reporter added that, since these young people were unable to return home that night, "a parade of parents appeared at the jail wanting to know the nature ofthe charge and the reason for the raid." None of those arrested was required to post bail and all were released.38 Almost three years later, on November 20, 1953, in reporting an? other raid, the media account took an equally light tone. According to the Herald, following complaints that "men with girlish looking hair- dos and flimsy bikini-type tights 'have been prancing around the 22nd Street public beach in droves,'" Miami Beach police, led by Miami Beach police chief Romeo Shepard, picked up and brought in twenty-one per? sons for questioning. That beach, according to the story, had been "ac- quiring a reputation as a congregating place for males who try hard to look and act like women." Described by the police as "males with a femi? nine bent," all were released.39 Although terms like "sex perverts" and "undesirables" were used in these stories, the words appeared as part of quotes attributed to law enforcement officials and were not used by the newspaper itself as a factual description of the individuals involved. Rather than being an account of a serious crime situation, the stories had a light, tongue-in-cheek tone. The account ofthe Latin American Club raid portrayed an episode of youthful indiscretion rather than serious sexual perversion. For the story on the 22nd Street beach raid, the large headline in the local section ofthe Herald read: "Turn-about (Is) Not Fair Play, Say Beach Police," a humorous reference to the gender- bending displays found on the 22nd Street beach. As the popularity ofthe drag performances and the newspapers' treatment ofthe beach arrests show, as long as homosexuality was regarded as gender inversion?"males with a feminine bent"?it was sccn as a harmless, almost comical manifestation of Miami's flamboyant beach scene and nightlife. Yet the growing homosexual community, both nationally and locally, did not develop without provoking a strong reaction. Nationally this reac? tion was shaped by the intensifying Cold War and the drive toward ideo- logical and sexual conformity in the United States. In June 1950, prompted 38 Herald, January21,1951, see. B, p. 1. An oral history ofthe raid notes that the crowd was a mix of male homosexuals and lesbians: Sears, 25-26. 39'Herald,November 21, 1953, see. B,p. 1. 318 Fred Fejes by testimony that the State Department had employed homosexuals, the United States Senate Investigative Subcommittee of the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Department held hearings on the employ? ment of homosexuals in the government. In the context of Cold War culture and politics, people assumed that homosexuals were easy targets for blackmail by foreign agents and thus threats to national security. In 1953 President Dwight Eisenhower expanded the loyalty security pro- gram to include "sexual perversion" as reason for dismissal. Throughout the 1950s government investigations were conducted to expose and purge all homosexuals from government and military service.40 Concomitant with the growing Cold War hysteria was a burgeoning concern over sex crimes. During the late 1940s and first half ofthe 1950s a "sex crime panic" swept the United States. Heightened public attention was created about crimes of a sexual nature, particularly those in which young children were victims. The intensified focus was not the result of any actual increase in such crimes, but more often due to a small number of high-profile cases of child molestation, lddnapping and/or murder. Both at the state and local level, the media, law enforcement agencies, and citi? zen groups were active in creating a heightened perception of the threat of such crimes and demanding that politicians act. Typically such crimes were not defined as the work of ordinary criminals who should be pros? ecuted under existing laws, but the actions of "sexual psychopaths" who should be treated differently. Legislators responded. Between 1947 and 1955, twenty-one states and the District of Columbia enacted new laws dealing with sexual psychopaths. These laws often did not name specific criminal acts, nor did they differentiate between felonies and misdemean- ors, violent and nonviolent crimes, or consensual and nonconsensual be? havior. Rather they targeted a kind of personality, or an identity, that could only be discovered by trained psychiatrists. The laws provided for the con- finement in a mental institution of any person accused of a sexual crime and judged to be a sexual psychopath, to be held until determined to be cured. For homosexuals, these laws and the general climate of a panic about sex crimes represented a major repressive threat. Many ofthe sexual psychopath laws were written so broadly as to apply easily to private, con? sensual same-sex behavior between adults, acts that were outlawed in most states, including Florida. But more significantly the panic encouraged a public understanding of homosexuality in which the criminal sexual psy? chopath and the homosexual were just different points on the same con? tinuum?the difference between their psychological makeup a matter of degree, not of kind. In the legal and psychiatric literature the terms "sex criminal," "pervert," "psychopath," and "homosexual" frequently over- 40D'Emilio, 41-49. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miamiys Homosexuals 319 lapped, and "psychopath" served as a code word for homosexual at a time of heightened consciousness of homosexuality.41 In spite of its image as a beach paradise where the cares of the world were forgotten amid the palm trees and warm tropical breezes, both the Cold War hysteria and the panic over sex crimes were very much woven into the fabric of life in Miami. The Herald, with its reputation as a na? tional newspaper, strove hard to keep the Cold War before its readers with large front-page headlines and daily editorials devoted to the international situation and the threat of world communism. During the summer of Judith Ann Roberts's murder, headlines about Communist advances in Southeast Asia alternated with ones dealing with the Roberts murder case. Also during that summer the Dade County state attorney's office con? ducted a well-publicized McCarthy-type grand jury investigation aimed at uncovering local Communist subversion. The investigation focused on a number of organizations in Miami Beach?ofthe 138 witnesses called, 135 had Jewish names?and those witnesses who refused to testify were jailed for contempt.42 Miami's growing concern over sex crimes was reflected by an increased awareness ofthe threat of child molestation. Although Miami was not yet known as a place for violent crime, the fast growth and transient nature of the population amplified concerns over children's safety. In 1950 the Mi? ami Children's Protective League was formed to raise awareness of child safety and to lobby for laws requiring the psychiatric evaluation of accused child molesters. The following year the Florida state legislature passed a law requiring the confinement and treatment in the state psychiatric hos- pital of all convicted ofa sex crime. Poor drafting and lack of funding for psychiatric treatment made the law's application problematic, and the League and mental health professionals continued to lobby for a stronger measure and additional funding.43 Although there was no significant in? crease in the rate of child molestation?between 1950 and 1953 the num? ber of reported cases in Dade County increased 32 percent (from 83 to 110) while the population increased 26 percent (495,100 to 626,200), the League became influential in shaping the local political and media 41Freedman,"Uncontrolled Desires"; Chauncey, "The Postwar Sex Crime Panic"; Philip Jenkins, Moral Panic: Changing Concepts ofthe Child Molester in Modern America (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), esp. 49-93. ^Herald, July 16, 1954, see. B, p. 1; July 29, 1954, see. D, p. 1; Moore, 173-74. 43Under the 1951 law a convicted sex offender might be sentenced to an indeterminate term in the state's mental hospital and could be released only after a positive evaluation by a psychiatrist. Given the overcrowding and lack of funding for such treatment, many of- fenders were released after a few months. The child protection advocates were demanding both increased funding, separate treatment facilities for child molesters, and pre-trial deter- minations and sentencing. News, July 15, 1954, see. A, p. 23. 320 Fred Fejes agenda.44 In early November 1953, a Fort Lauderdale case in which a local man was caught sadistically torturing a young boy heightened con? cern over child molesters.45 Although the incident occurred in a city twenty- five miles north of Miami and in a different county, the case provided an opportunity for the child protective forces in Miami to mobilize. In the city election that month, candidates for the city commission pledged their support for the League's efforts. Candidate Abe Aronovitz, a Miami law- yer and noted civic reformer?who, as top vote-getter under Miami's weak mayor and strong city manager system became Miami's new mayor?promi- nently featured in his campaign advertisements a letter from the League's president commending him for his efforts on behalf of laws dealing with child molesters.46 In late November, the League made headlines by calling for the psychiatric screening of all persons over seventeen years of age who were accused of sex crimes with children.47 A week later Dade County police chiefs?citing the Fort Lauderdale case?declared that the threat of child molestation had created an "emergency situation" in Dade County and announced the planned distribution of 50,000 pamphlets on the sub? ject to county schoolchildren.48 In the public statements from the Children'sProtective League and law enforcement officials, and in the newspaper reports, the target was defined as the "child molester." Although the molester in the Fort Lau? derdale case had confessed to a record of sex crimes in Massachusetts and was described in initial reports as a "sex pervert," in subsequent stories the terms "child molester" and "child molestation" were used exclusively to describe him and the crime.49 The immediate response to the perceived threat was an education campaign aimed at Dade County's schoolchil? dren and not the raiding of bars or the harassment of homosexuals.50 More? over, it was during this child molestation scare in November that the 22nd Street beach raid took place. Both the reason for the raid?local com- plaints?and its humorous reporting did not reflect any concern about potential child molesters. As yet, newspapers and law enforcement offi? cials had made little explicit connection between the perceived threat of child molesters and Dade County's homosexuals. Making that connection was left up to Daniel Sullivan, director ofthe Greater Miami Crime Commission. While the attention ofthe Commis? sion had been focused in the past on organized crime and gambling, at 44Herald, July 9, 1954, see. A., p. 4; Florida Statistical Abstract 1976, p. 24, 26. 45Herald, November 4, 1953, see. A., p. 1. 46Herald, November 23, 1953, see. B, p. 5; November 22, 1953, see. B, p. 6. 47Ibid., November 29, 1953, see. B, p. 1. 48Ibid., December 8, 1953, see. C, p. 1. 49Ibid., November 4, 1953, see. A, p. 1. 50Ibid., November 12, 1953, see. B, p. 1; December 15, 1953, see. B, p. 1. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 321 its regular meeting on November 25, 1953, Sullivan took the opportu? nity to raise a new problem for Miami to address. Again referring to the Fort Lauderdale case, Sullivan urged that Miami must now face its own problems with "sex perverts." He noted that the city police allowed a number of bars and nightclubs to operate which catered to "sex degen- erates" and which made Miami known to "perverts all over the coun? try." "There is a connection," he announced, "between the open operation of such bars and nightclubs with reported cases of child molestation." He recommended a sharp crackdown on such places, but noted that ac? tion would only occur if public indignation was aroused. "Public opin? ion expressed in forceful language to those officials who control public policy will spotlight the problem and force the necessary police action."51 Three days later, as if on cue, deputies from the Dade County sheriff's department raided three bars "where sex perverts [were] known to fre- quent" in downtown Miami. The police described the targets ofthe raid as "perverts, female impersonators and vagrants."52 Eighteen men were brought in, twelve were released, four charged with vagrancy, and two with prostitution. In contrast to the coverage of the 22nd Street beach raid just days before, stories reporting the bar raids reflected a far different tone. Ho? mosexuals, rather than harmless gender inverts, were now depicted as sexual predators. The Herald and News described the event in headlines announc- ing a "Drive on Perverts" and both reported it as a serious crime story. Yet it was apparent that Sullivan's remarks, along with the raid and its reports, did not signal the beginning of any coordinated, intense crackdown prompted by the scare. The Herald carried the initial story about Sullivan's remarks on the bottom of the fifth page of the local section, reflecting perfunctory coverage ofthe Commission's monthly meeting. The bar raid, initiated as it was by the poorly-staffed county sheriff's department, did not reflect any change in Miami city police chief Headley's policy of allow? ing the Miami bars to operate unmolested by his far larger department. There were no repeats ofthe raid in the following months and press cov? erage of Miami's homosexuals, whether described harshly as "perverts" or more benignly as "men who act mighty like women," subsided. The Miami beach and bar raids and Sullivan's remarks, however, at- tracted the attention of the editorsof ONE, a new monthly publication begun in January 1953 by a group of Mattachine Society members in Los Angeles. In contrast to the Mattachine Society's conservative attitude about homosexuality and its secretive operations, the founders of ONE saw their magazine as speaking out openly and aggressively on behalf of the rights 51Ibid., November 26, 1953, see. B, p. 5. 52News,November 28, 1953, see. A, p. 1; Herald, November 29, 1953, see. B, p. 1. 322 Fred Fejes and interests of homosexuals.53 Although ONE only numbered about 1,650 subscribers by 1954, its impact was much greater because it was the only publication at that time that dared speak positiyely of homosexuality and advocate equal legal and social status for homosexuals. It had a national readership, including a number of subscribers in Miami, where it was also sold on local newsstands. From its readers in Miami the editors had re- ceived press accounts ofthe raids and of Sullivan's statements. They quickly decided that the situation required a major response, one ofthe first open protests by these new homosexual activists against police harassment.54 They wrote letters to the Herald, Chief Headley, the county sheriff Thomas Kelly, Miami Beach police chief Romeo Shepard, and other offi? cials. These letters reviewed the situation in Miami and criticized the ha? rassment of homosexuals. In the January 1954 issue of ONE, in a cover article entitled "Miami Junks the Constitution," the editors presented a scathing report on the 22nd Street beach raid, decrying the clear violation of constitutional rights involved. Today's papers are crammed with screaming headlines about the bless- edness of Our Way of Life, yet the entire nation and all of Miami sits quietly by as a minor police official [Miami Beach police chief Shepard] violates the Constitution.. . . No one legally can be charged with merely a state of being. . . . You cannot be charged with homo? sexuality or criminality. . . . As a result [those brought in by police] have excellent grounds for a suit against Shepard, the [police] Force and the city of Miami [Beach] for this violation of their rights. They excoriated Crime Commission director Sullivan for his remarks equat- ing homosexuals with child molesters, noting that the director made a statement on the situation which places him forever at the bottom of the retarded class. He publicly states that homosexuals are child tor- turers and killers. By using the word "pervert" he lumps together all who deviate from the average; he thereby insists that to be different is to be criminal. Thus in one fell swoop, he ostracizes all minorities. The editors printed a copy ofthe letter they sent to Sullivan in which they asked him to document his claim that there was "a connection between 53D'Emilio, 72-7Z, 87-89. Among those involved in the founding and early history of ONE were Dorr Legg, Dale Jennings, Don Slater, and Jim Kepner. As Jennings later re- called, "Members of the Mattachine Society wanted the emphasis to be on the contribu? tions that homosexuals had made to literature?to the culture. The editors did not agree. We wanted to focus on gaining political rights." Rodger Streittmatter, Unspeakable:The Rise ofthe Lesbian and Gay Press in America (Boston: Faber and Faber, 1995), 20; Jim Kepner, Rough News, Daring Views:1950s}Pioneer GayPressJ ournalism (New York:Haworth Press, 1998), 1-12. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 323 the open operation of [homosexual] bars and nightclubs with reported cases of child molestation." They referred the director to a report to the Illinois state legislature produced by the Illinois Sex Offenders Commis? sion that found "cno warrant for hysteria' regarding the sex problem" in that "[r]elatively few sex offenders are dangerous and the minor offenders do not as a rule graduate into dangerous offenders." In contrast to their harsh criticism of Sullivan and Shepard, they ap- plauded Miami police chief Walter Headley's "refusal to wholeheartedly support the current hysteria concerning homosexuality" and his "more realistic and modern viewpoint" embodied in his policy of letting the ho? mosexual bars in Miami operate unharassed by his city's police force. As with all their letters to Miami officials and media, they referred the police chief to the Illinois Sex Offenders Commission report and noted that the purpose of ONE was to challenge the "illegal and unconstitutional inva- sion of the rights of millions of self-respecting and respectable homo? sexual American men and women." In reporting on their letter-writing campaign, the editors proudly pointed to what they viewed as the positive results of their intervention: one ofthe letters was "posted on the Miami Herald Bulletin Board [sic]" and the county sheriff's office began subscribing to the magazine. While it was most likely the first time that Sullivan, Headley, or any ofthe other recipients had ever heard of any person, publication, or organization speak- ing on behalf of the rights and welfare of homosexuals, the evidence seemed to augur well for progress in educating Miami's officials and media about homosexuality. Such a positive picture of the city was affirmed in the next issue when the magazine gave an account of a public forum on homosexuality held in mid-January in Miami.55 Entitled "Homosexuality: Cause, Society and 54"MiamiJunks the Constitution," ONE: The Homosexual Magazine, January 1954, pp. 16-21. Starting with its report on Miami, ONE inaugurated a regular feature ofthe magazine called "The Bureau of Public Information" devoted to "the exposure of illegal acts and unscientific statements made publicly by persons of influence. No matter how highly placed, ONE will challenge them with all the weight of its thousands of readers." Ibid., p. 16. Years later, Jim Kepner, one of the writers at ONE who wrote under the pseudonym of Lyn Pedersen, recalled that the situation in Miami represented "really for- mative events in our consciousness of how to deal with this subject politically . . . The Miami ordeal pushed us towards greater militancy, . . . towards the idea that the chief pur- pose of ONE was to confront situations like that, to publicize them, and to demand justice. At that time a lot ofthe attitude in the Mattachine Society was that you didn't demand. You ask people to help you. We pushed the idea of demanding?demanding rather stridently. The Miami purge brought out for me several questions. For example, 'Do homosexuals have the right to gather in bars that are publicly licensed places and still have a degree of privacy?'"(Quoted in Sears, 24; Streittmatter, 26-27). 55"Who'sSick," ONE, February, 1954, pp. 4-5. 324 Fred Fejes Crime," it was sponsored by the First Unitarian Church of Miami as part of its weekly public discussions and featured a panel of three local psy? chologists, including one from the University of Miami and another from the Veterans Administration. Also participating on the panel was Miami mayor Abraham Aronovitz. The attendance "broke all existing records" for the church's series and showed, according to ONE, "that this forum much hidden subject is finally coming out from behind the clouds and [is] being sanely evaluated by responsible people." Pointing to Kinsey's re? search, the psychologists noted the prevalence of homosexuality ("37 to 50 percent of Americans have had some homosexual experiences") and its occurrence across culturesand at all levels of society. Since curing homo? sexuality was unlikely, they argued for changes in laws that criminalized it. Mayor Aronovitz began his remarks by attributing his participation to having instructed his secretary to accept all speaking engagements. He then talked about how operators of bars catering to homosexuals were profiting from their customers' sickness. While he didn't want Miami to be known as a "haven for homosexuals or divorce getters or other criminals," homosexuals should not be "persecuted or hounded" be? cause they were undoubtedly sick. However, as the discussion contin- ued and the audience began to raise questions, it was evident that his views would not go unchallenged. At one point he asked rhetorically how anyone who had "the glorious experience of normal sexual rela? tions would prefer homosexual relations," to which one ofthe psychologists answered that large percentages of homosexuals had experiences with the opposite sex. The mayor was asked by a member ofthe audience to answer a final question: if homosexuals were driven from the bars, beaches, and other gathering places, where would he have them spend their lei- sure time? He replied that if society accepted homosexuals, they should not be persecuted. The discussion closed with one ofthe psychologists linking intolerance of homosexuals to an authoritarian personality; it was these "psychoneurotics who need[ed] psychiatric treatment, not the harmless homosexual." No doubt the evening was an educational one for the mayor. It was one of the first public discussions between a major elected official and those advocating a more enlightened perspec- tive on homosexuality. ONE found the mayor's participation and the lively discussion of the homosexual and his problems encouraging and pointed to the evening as a model for future discussions of this type. Despite past events and statements, the editors of ONE saw a great deal of potential for positive change in Miami. Police chief Headley's policy of tolerance, the seemingly positive response to their letter-writing cam? paign, and the open discussion with public officials at the forum were taken as indications of the possibility of changing society's negative at? titude about homosexuality. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 325 Dr?jtl<r for Sex Fcrturli ftcMierfy Figure 1. Letter to the Editor about child molesters asking readers what they would do if they discovered their child was molested by a sex pervert, July 28, 1954. Reprinted with permission ofthe Miami Herald. Child Molesters and Sex Perverts Seven months after the public forum, an unknown assailant kidnapped and murdered Judith Ann Roberts. In the immediate wake of this crime, atten? tion to the threat of "child molesters" and "sex perverts" was reignited. The concern was further amplified by a front-page Herald report two days after the murder that a Coral Gables couple declined to prosecute a repairman who had made improper advances toward their eight-year-old daughter, cit- ing both their unwillingness to have their daughter testify and the lack of a guarantee that the perpetrator would be prevented from repeating his ac- tions.56The Children's Protective League made front-page news in renew- ing its call for more effective laws and increased state funding to insure the confinement and treatment of child molesters.57 The Herald printed letters from readers who suggested various ways of dealing with the problem of "sex perverts." The opinions ranged from increased psychiatric care to a call to "Just Execute Them All." That last letter was prominently headlined at the top ofthe Sunday editorial page (see Figure 1). Next to that letter's headline, in a companion piece, the Herald questioned "What Would You Decide," as part of a survey asking readers if they would prosecute anyone found attempting to molest their children. The results, reported conspicu- ously on the editorial page the following Sunday, showed that ofthe 1,200 readers responding, two-thirds said they would press charges despite the 56Herald, July 9, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 57Ibid., July 15, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 326 Fred Fejes inadequacies ofthe law. A large number of those who would not prosecute said they would rather take the law into their own hands.58 This media-created panic over child molestation paralleled similar panics that occurred in other cities in the late 1940s and early 1950s.59 What was distinctive, however, about the events in Miami was that they sparked a two-month-long media campaign to deal with what was perceived as an? other problem: the policy of allowing the open operation of bars that served homosexuals and the resulting perception that Miami was a hospitable place for homosexuals. Although in the days following the crime the police main? tained surveillance of the bars?bringing in suspicious patrons for ques- tioning?the police found no suspects and turned their attention to other leads. Nonetheless the presence and operation of these bars quickly became a factor in the media's response to the murder. Two days after the murder the Herald ran a major editorial which noted that the crime was not an isolated event, but indicative of a general increase in crime and a symptom of lax and lenient law enforcement by the police and courts. In particular the Herald drew a connection between the threat of child molesters and the existence of a large number of sex "perverts" and "deviates" in the city, a presence tolerated by Chief Headley's lenient policy on "pervert" bars. Police have erred in permitting perverts to assemble here?to corral them in places which are "on limits" to them. . . . Miami's "powder- puff lane" is a civic disgrace . . . [and] an invitation to all sex deviates in the United States to come here for sanctuary.. . . When large num? bers of perverts are present in a community, the peril is multiplied. The example and temptation to our youth is vile.60 Although the police search of bars failed to turn up any suspects, the Herald continued to cover the efforts to monitor the bars. Three days 58Ibid., July 10, 1954, see. A, p. 1; July 18, 1954, see. F, p. 3; July 25, 1954, see. F, p. 3. In the aftermath the Herald ran a number of wire stories from other parts of the county dealing with various sex crimes. Locally a false report to police by a woman who mistakenly thought she saw another kidnapping underway?a father was making a protest- ing child get into the family car?was featured on the top, front page ofthe local section. Ibid., July 16, 1954, see. B, p. 1. The Herald also used the highly charged atmosphere of concern over sex crimes to strike at one of its favorite political targets, acting governor Charley Johns, the conservative rural North Florida politician who became governor with the death of popular?and Herald endorsed?Dan McCarty. Ten days after the murder the newspaper ran a major front-page story accusing the acting governor of staying the sen? tence ofa convicted child molester in West Palm Beach, a town 60 miles north of Miami. It later turned out that the molester was receiving psychiatric care and that Johns, as head of the state pardon board, was following state law and policy in the matter. Ibid., July 17, 1954, see. A, p. 1; July 21, 1954, see. C, p. 2. 59Chauncey,"The Postwar Sex Crime Panic." mHerald, July 9, 1954, see. A, p. 4. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 327 after its inflammatory editorial the Herald reported, in a story headlined "Police Take Names of Perverts," that police that evening were institut- ing the practice of recording the names, addresses, and places of employ- ment of all bar patrons, ostensibly to see if they had a criminal record. With this public announcement, the surveillance of bars had obviously gone beyond a search for suspects. Although the police were unable to follow the Herald\ editorial advice to close the bars down?they had no legal authority to do so?these harassing methods would insure that the bars had few customers. As one ofthe detectives was quoted by the Her? ald, "[We intend] to make things hot for sex perverts in Miami. . . . And if we can discourage bars and night clubs from catering to this type of trade, perhaps these undesirables will leave town."61 The investigation into Roberts's murder failed to turn up any immediate suspects. Moreover, incongruities in the evidence and statements from the family began to turn police away from the theory that it was a random, sexually-motivated crime and toward the suspicion that the murderer either knew the family or was in fact a family member. Two weeks after the mur? der the Miami police sent investigators to Baltimore to look into the back? ground of the friends and associates of Roberts's family. The dead girl's father reacted strongly against this change in direction. In a front-page story in the afternoon News headlined "Judy's Father Blasts Miami's Tet Per? verts,'" he denied that the murderer could be found among his circle of acquaintances. Accusing the Miami police of treading lightly in dealing with the suspects rounded up right after the crime, he said that "the sadistic fiend who raped and strangled little Judith will probably be found among [the police's] own pet perverts in Miami who are treated so tenderly."62 The charge that Miami police were coddling their "pet perverts" brought a strong editorial reply from the Herald. Again the newspaper decried the Miami police policy of "setting-up a Towder-Puff Lane'" for homosexuals. "The practice harks back to the days of red light districts, sordid political partnerships, and payoffs, and dark age police methods." Moreover, in spe? cific reference to the article in ONE, which commended Chief Headley's policy of allowing the bars to operate, the newspaper noted that Miami's Powder-Puff Lane has made the city a concentration center of the gentry from all over the nation. They even have a national publication which applauds Miami and its police methods [and] con- demns those cities which will not coddle them. The editorial, however, went on to question the accuracy of Roberts's father's charges against the Miami police, his error being in * Herald, July 12, 1954, see. B, p. 1. '2News,July 23, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 328 Fred Fejes not differentiating between child molesters and rapists and other sex deviates. . . . The rapists and molesters are mental incompetents; they are killers per se, with uncontrollable passions. . . . The others, it is reasonably well established, have some hope of medical and psychiat? ric cure, and it should be pursued within realistic, rather than senti- mental [sic] limitations. When they go awry, it is usually among their own kind.63 Obviously the Herald paid attention not only to ONE's approval of Headley's policy, but also to its stinging rebuttal of Crime Commission director Sullivan's easy conflation of child molesters, sex murderers, and homosexuals. With this editorial the HeraWs agenda was becoming clear. ONE magazine's identification of Miami as a tolerable place for homo? to live raised the threat the city would become sexuals a "concentration center for the gentry from all over the nation." For the Herald, having led the fight to get rid of syndicate crime and open gambling and trying to reform the city's reputation as a wide-open town, this was intolerable. The Judith Ann Roberts murder, however, was becoming less and less able to support the weight of the attack against the homosexual bars. The Herald itsclf denied the direct link between homosexuals, labeled as "sex perverts," and child molesters and murderers. Moreover, by early August, the police had all but abandoned the idea that Roberts's murder was a sex crime. The panic created by the murder began to recede, and with it, the concern over the gay bars. The situation was getting back to normal when, fortunately for the Herald, another highly sensationalized murder occurred which returned Miami's homosexual community to the center ofthe media glare. On the early morning of August 3, the body of twenty-seven-year-old William Simpson was found, lying near his car on a deserted road?"some? times used as a lover's lane"?in North Miami, shot to death. There were signs of a struggle and his wallet was gone. Maldng the murder the front- page headline story, the Herald described Simpson, a native of Kentucky who moved to Miami in 1951, as a "handsome Eastern airline steward" who lived with a roommate, another Eastern steward. In a separate short article about Simpson, his landlady described both the victim and his room? mate as nice quiet boys?"no carousing around"?who would "throw din- ners for stewards and stewardesses." His co-workers at the airline described him as a "very refined, cultured and pleasant man." The piece ended by noting that, according to his co-workers, he was said to have dated fre- quently and was considered to have been a "man with the ladies."64 63 Herald, July 28, 1954, see. A, p. 6. ^Herald, August 4, 1954, see. A, pp. 1, 14. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 329 Four days later police had detained two nineteen-year-old youths as suspects, Richard Killen and Charles Lawrence; the latter admitted killing Simpson. At first the youths said they were hitchhiking and picked up by Simpson, who then took them to the deserted spot where he made sexual advances, offered them money, and then tried to assault them.65 They claimed that, trying to protect themselves, Lawrence (who had a gun) shot Simpson in the stomach. Thinking he was just wounded, they left. But after intensive questioning the two youths confessed to their plan of getting picked up by a homosexual and then robbing him. Both were armed. According to their story, Lawrence shot Simpson after Simpson performed oral sex on him. Simpson, badly wounded, was made to get out ofthe car and give up his wallet. The youths left him as he was stag- gering down the road, clutching his stomach. He bled to death. The warmly detailed image of Simpson as a "nice quiet boy" who was popular with the ladies and who worked for Eastern Airlines, one of Miami's major employers, was quickly replaced with curt descriptions of him as "an airline steward and accused [sic] pervert."66 Coming so recently after the Roberts crime, this calculated cold-blooded murder?the youths were depicted as having very little remorse?was another crime involving sex and murder that shocked the sensibilities of Miamians. But it was neither clear where the boundaries ofthe crime lay nor who the victim was. The youths robbed and murderedSimpson. But Simpson, according to the youths' testimony, had performed oral sex on one of them; he was now an "accused pervert." Although he had been murdered, he was no longer deserving ofthe sympathy ofthe media or the public. The Herald quickly replaced Simpson as the object of sympathy. On the day after the story ofthe confession, the Herald ran a front-page interview with the eighteen-year-old wife of Killen, the murderer's accomplice?the interview illustrated with a series of photographs of her weeping as she was questioned. She and her husband of four months met each other in high school where they were active "in young people's affairs at the church they attended." They were married in a church?"it was such a pretty wedding? we took movies and everything"?and during the interview she sobbed and "fondled a memento of her recent marriage?tiny figures of a bride and groom in a white bower that adorned her wedding cake." She de? scribed her husband as a "religious boy" who read the Bible and didn't drink. Upon graduating from high school both of them had difficulty find- ing jobs. Their financial difficulties increased and they were in danger of losing their car on which they had only "two $37.50 payments left." Ulti- mately the situation led to tragedy. "You can ask any kid from any school? 65Ibid.,August 8, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 66Ibid., August 19, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 330 Fred Fejes Karlio-T- Comics Mmmx H3Uratf> InThisSection SJj* KUltN DONHA HRS. 5,000 Here Jahamas to Get Perverts, Police Say Gaming Casino oofTnwoRTB tijcri>n(.E Dosicr >ls Permit ?r Resort Figure 2. 5000 Here Perverts, Poliee Say, August 10, 1954. Reprinted with permission of the Miami Herald. Constance, Miami Edison, Tech or any one of them?and they'll tell you if you want money just go down to Bayfront Park where 'such people' are. It's a standing joke." She blamed Lawrence for the actual murder, her hus? band "didn't plan it. . . it was just one of those spur ofthe moment things." But the fault really lay with the situation in places like Bayfront Park, a major downtown city park along Biscayne Bay, where "such people" were. "Why, oh, why," she sobbed, "don't they clean it up?"67 Defining a New Threat This interview defined a new threat to Miami's civic wellbeing, which allowed the Herald to reenergize its campaign against Miami's homo? sexuals. Previous media reports had focused on the bars and the beach, but the issues of park cruising, public sex, and of young male teenagers hustling for money received no media notice. Furthermore, the fact that Simpson, who had been previously described by the Herald as a hand- some young man with a good job, to whom the paper could point as the 7Ibid., August 8, 1954, see. A, p. 1. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 331 type of person Miami was trying to attract as a resident, could in fact be a "sex pervert" suggested that the threat of Miami's homosexuals was far more complicated and larger than previously thought. Just below the photo essay accompanying the interview with Killen's wife was the story that marked the beginning ofthe Herald's major on- slaught against Miami's homosexuals. Headlined "5,000 Here Perverts, Police Say," the story reported police estimates of homosexuals in Miami, noting that at least twenty bars catered to them (see Figure 2). An investigator on the Simpson murder noted, "I was amazed to dis- cover there were distinct classes of perverts here, not only based on their age groups, but also on the ages ofthe person with whom they liked to consort. Some of them even get married as a cover-up. And there are nearly just as many women among them as men." The problem of homo? sexuals was that rather than being perpetrators of violent crime?"We can't arrest them just on suspicion of being a pervert"?they created the oppor? tunity for crime by offering themselves as victims to young hustlers who then robbed them. Police noted that there had been numerous incidents where "hitch hikers robbed drivers after they were picked up along Biscayne Blvd. [sic] in addition to as many robberies in Bayfront Park." It was impossible to tell how many were not reported "because the victims were embarrassed by the pervert implications." In one case a man had been beaten and thrown into the bay where he drowned by a young service- man, who said that he met the victim in a bar and accompanied him to the park for immoral purposes. "We have a very large number of young men who don't consider it wrong to slug or rob a pervert."68 The next day, August 11, 1954, the Herald solicited and ran on the front page a statement by Lt. Chester Eldredge, head ofthe city of Miami homicide squad. The story, headlined "Official Urges Society to Face Per? vert Problem," offered readers the first authoritative description of the "pervert problem" in Miami in an attempt to demonstrate that it went beyond the issue of young men who robbed homosexuals. Eldredge claimed that there were closer to 8,000 "perverts," not 5,000 as reported the previous day, in the greater Miami area. They ranged from the "relatively harmless homosexual to the fierce sadist who horribly mutilates and tor- tures his victim." They are found not just "among the poor and illiterate, but among the well educated and so-called blue bloods of society." Indi? viduals became perverts due to a combination of heredity and bad home environment. The long-term solution was the education of parents so that "they recognize the abnormal in their children," and the treatment of children to "help them overcome character deficiencies and bad tenden? cies." Moreover, offered Eldredge, it was essential that adult perverts be l8Ibid., see. B, p. 1. 332 Fred Fejes segregated in order to treat them and "awaken [within them] respect for God, parents, property, authority and our fellowman in general" and to "protect the normal individual from associating with the abnormal." Eldredge closed his statement by citing the inadequacy of Florida laws and facilities. These recent murders [of Judith Ann Roberts and William Simpson] emphasize the dire lack and absolute need for state-controlled and financed facilitiesfor treatment of such persons. . . . Society and the state of Florida have made it against the law to practice homosexual? ity, but there has been provided no form of treatment for such per? sons, even if they should come seeking help.69 The News expanded upon the HemWs crisis coverage. In its front- page story the day after the two confessed, the paper reported that police had uncovered a large "pervert colony" in northeast Miami. According to police, this colony was "ruled by a queen." One early line of police inves? tigation was that Simpson may have been the "ruler" of this colony and "[his] murder might have been for succession ofthe title." A local resi- dent who "made no secret ofhis leanings" was questioned: Was Simpson the "queen?" "No," came the response. "The queen is-." Here the man named a person quite prominent in the community. "How many of you are there. . . . Twenty-forty?" "Oh, more than that." "Ahundred." "Make it closer to five hundred," came the staggering reply.70 Competing with the Herald to present an authoritative account of homosexuality, the News quickly put together a three-part, front-page series exploring and attempting to explain homosexuality to its readers. In an interview headlined "A Disease 4Worse than Alcohol,'" a local Miami psychiatrist noted that homosexuals were only one type of sexual psychopath, the others being child molesters and sadists. He explained: "Not all homosexuals want to gain converts, but those who do can be extremely aggressive. . . . It's 'possible' [sic] for anyone to become a homosexual, but people are not born to be such."71 The second install- ment?headlined as "How perverts took over a town"?described the situation in Los Angeles where "homosexuals have organized to resist interference by police. They have established their own magazine and 69Ibid., August 11, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 70News,August 9, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 71Ibid., August 13, 1954, see. A., p. 1. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 333 are constantly crusading for recognition as a 'normal' group, a so-called 'third-sex.'" The article went on to note that Los Angeles homosexuals were well aware ofthe situation in Miami: "In the January issue of their magazine, Miami Beach police chief Romeo Shepard was roasted to a turn for a raid on homosexuals gathered at the 22nd Street bathing beach. . . . The article urged homosexuals in the Miami area to get to? gether and sue the City of Miami Beach for their arrests." It went on: "This thing is like cancer. . . . It keeps getting bigger and bigger each year." In conclusion, the piece worried that "Miami could follow a pat- tern similar to that of Los Angeles in regard to deviates."72 The final installment ofthe series?with the front-page headline of "Great Civili- zations Plagued by Deviates"?noted that "all experts" agreed that ho? mosexuality was a sign of "moral degeneracy." The psychiatrist inter? viewed in the first article appeared again, pointing out "that the spokes- man for homosexuals in the Los Angeles area (editor of a magazine for homosexuals) constantly crusades for a legitimate place in society. cBut in all their arguments they fail to look at the other side ofthe picture,'" said the doctor, "'The most important thing to consider is where moral degeneracy can lead to.'"73 Within a day of each other, both the Herald and the News ran editorials demanding immediate action?"Let's Do Something About It"( News) and "Clean This Place Up."74 The News called for a grand jury investigation of the problem. The Herald's editorial was the more pointed of the two approaches, beginning with a reference to the interview with Killen's wife. With the large number of homosexuals and the bars serving them, along with young men from area high schools hustling "such people" in Bayfront Park, "The situation is threatening the wholesome growth of Greater Miami." Both Miami police chief Headley's policy of letting bars catering to homosexuals operate and ONEys approval of that policy have led to "Miami's reputation as a comfortable haven for homosexuals." "No won? der they come here from all over the country to set up a residential con- centration and meeting places with what amounts to police approval." The solution: Clean this place up and shut down "Powder Puff Lane." "The good people of Miami will insist upon it."75 The Miami Beach city police were quick to follow the newspapers' ad- vice. Within two days after the editorials, they repeated their November raid on the 22nd Street beach, rounding up and bringing in for question- ing thirty-five "males who act mighty like girls." However, in contrast to the lighthearted reporting of the November raid, this event was handled 72Ibid., August 15, 1954, see. A. p. 1. 73Ibid.,August 16, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 74Ibid.,August 10, 1954, see. A, p. 14. 75Herald,August 11, 1954, see. A, p. 6. 334 Fred Fejes as a major crime sweep, with bold headlines on the front page of the Herald's local section announcing "Beach Police Round Up 35 in Pervert Crackdown."76 The raid was conducted with "all the advance planning and secrecy of an amphibious landing." At 2 p.m. police acting as a "flying squad of raiders" swept onto the beach and started rounding up the tar- geted men for questioning while scores of curious bystanders gathered to watch. A few ofthe men tried to escape by swimming into the ocean, but lifeguards went after them and brought them back to the police. Five days later, police disguised as bathers returned to the beach and found no evi? dence of "perverts." Police chief Shepard promised a "'continuing check' on beaches where perverts had congregated in the past."77 Around midnight the next evening, forty-four Dade County sheriff's deputies raided eleven bars in Miami and Miami Beach known for cater- ing to homosexuals. The pretext for the raids was a check for venereal disease. Fifty-three men were brought in for questioning and nineteen were held in jail over the weekend pending a medical examination. In conducting the raid, county sheriff Thomas Kelly?seemingly mindful of ONE's charge that Miami was "junking" the Constitution?was careful to ensure that none ofthe arrested men were roughed up. "They are protected by laws, and the constitution is still in effect in Dade County." Nevertheless, "we do not want perverts to set up housekeeping in Dade County. We want them to know we'd like them to leave."78 The bar raid received prominent front-page coverage in both newspapers along with follow-up stories. To its reporting the News added a large front-page photograph of one of the apprehended suspects?a man wearing a leopardskin dress with wig and makeup.79 As the campaign gained momentum, the newspapers amplified the sense of the threat that homosexuals posed to Miamians, running stories about men reporting being propositioned, with one noting how he had been drugged and another how he had been thrown out ofa moving car when he refused the offer.80 Letters from readers expressed their outrage at the situa? tion, with some readers threatening to move from the area.81 A story about 76Ibid., August 13, 1954, see. B, p. 1. 77Ibid.,August 16, 1954, see. C, p. 1. 78Ibid., August 14, 1954, see. A, p. 1; August 15, 1954, see. B, p. 1. 79News,August 8, 1954, see. A, p. 1. Sheriff Kelly's quick and very public response was due in part to the fact that during this period he was the object of an investigation by both a local grand jury and acting governor Charley Johns over charges that he was lax in his law enforcement duties, in particular with regards to gambling, and that the acting governor was planning on removing him. Herald, August 16, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 80Ibid.,August 12,1954, see. D,p. 1; August 13,1954, see. B,p. 12; August 17,1954, see. A, p. 7; September 1, 1954, see. C, p. 6. 81Ibid.,August 14, 1954, see. A, p. 6; August 15, 1954, see. F, p. 3; August 17, 1954, see. A, p. 6. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 335 the "pervert situation" in Broward County, just north of Dade, revealed that according to a local law enforcement official, there was no evidence of "a 'colony' of perverts such as [the] one in Miami." "For that reason," he observed, "we don't attract homosexuals as permanent residents. They all go to Miami to be with their 'friends'."82 Although the Simpson case in? volved the murder of a homosexual by a young male hustler, the Miami Children's Protective League used this opportunity to renew its call to re- write state laws dealing with adult sex criminals and increase funding of treatment facilities.83 Legislators responded, promising quick action in the next legislative session to strengthen the laws.84 Yet despite its growing intensity, the campaign was conducted within lim? ited boundaries. The major goal was to undo the impression created by ONE magazine that Miami was a welcoming place for homosexuals to gather and police officially allowed bars for homosexuals to operate. Care was taken to balance the lurid reports of "pervert colonies" and child mo? lesters with calls for moderation. Soon after the Simpson murder the Herald ran an interview with the head ofthe Miami police Juvenile Aid Bureau, who warned "against public hysteria as a result of the 'widely publicized child molester and homosexual situation,'" noting that "not more than five per? cent of homosexuals are psychotic and potential child molesters." He laid the blame more on young "teen-age boys going out looking for homosexu? als?either to roll them or submit to them for money" and urged parents to keep closer watch over their children.85 Moreover, newspaper writers recog- nized that Miami had a longstanding homosexual community, and that some of its members were well placed within Miami society. Miami city com- missioner Randall Christmas?who later became mayor?was not particu? larly surprised by the situation in Bayfront Park. "Except for the number [of estimated homosexuals in Miami] I do not believe that the situation is changed from what it was when I was going to school. I remember boys going down to Bayfront Park to get money off these homosexuals." He called for a crackdown on the bars, but also urged increased state appropria- tions for treatment facilities for homosexuals, remarldng that "it is unfortu- nate that some of our prominent people have sons and daughters who fall under this classification of deviates."86 Up to this point harassment and raids against Miami's homosexuals were carried out by the personnel of the modestly staffed Miami Beach police department and the county sheriff's office. Chief Headley, head of the much larger Miami city police department, still maintained his policy 82Ibid.,August 22, 1954, see. A, p. 22. 83Ibid., August 11, 1954, see. C, p. 1. 84Ibid.,August 17, 1954, see. A, p. 2; News, August 16, 1954, see. A, p. 4. 85Herald,August 15, 1954, see. B, p. 1. 86Ibid., August 12, 1954, see. D, p. 1. 336 Fred Fejes of permitting the bars, most of which were located within the city of Mi? ami, to operate unmolested by his deputies?a policy he justified as allow- ing him to keep watch over Miami's homosexuals. He also noted that both the bars and the homosexuals who frequented them were breaking no laws. Moreover, echoing Commissioner Christmas's remarks, he rec? ognized that the problem was not as simple as it seemed: "If I ran all the homosexuals out of town, members of some of the best families would lead the parade."87 However, the constant barrage of criticism ofthe police chief's leniency from the Herald and the News began to have its effect on Miami city politicians. On Thursday, August 26, Mayor Abe Aronovitz began what would be the final round in the battle against the "perverts." As mayor in a city-manager form of government, he possessed very limited powers to act: any impact he could exert was through mobilizing public opinion. With an established reputation as both a fighter for civic reform and as a vocal opponent of any forms of "moral laxness and degeneracy" which would tarnish Miami's reputation, he quickly moved into action.88 In a statement to the press, he "blasted" Chief Headley's tolerant policy which was "bringing shame to the name of Miami" and was "an open invitation to sex deviates to come to Miami," bringing with them "a harvest of mur? ders, rapes and sex crimes." He threatened to have the city commission fire city manager Arthur Evans, who up until then had supported Headley's policy, unless he ordered the police chief to move against the "perverts." But rather than attack the homosexuals directly?"I do not think these people should be harassed. . . . They are sick mentally"?he insisted that the police should direct their efforts against the bars that catered to them. "Lice and vermin run these places. They are the scum of the earth and should be put out of business forever."89 Both the Herald and News quickly ran editorials supporting the mayor's call for action against the bars.90 The Herald amplified the issue over the next three days by prominently reviewing reports of other local officials who seconded the call. Commissioner H. Leslie Quigg noted: "It is getting to be a very bad situation. . . . We are just opening the gates to these people when national magazines carry stories that Miami has a lenient policy towards them."91 Commissioner Randall Christmas's comments received front-page 87News,August 16, 1954, see. A, p. 17. 88AsAronovitz later recalled, during his tenure as mayor, one of his major goals was to fight for better moral conditions in the city. Herald, October 22,1955, see. B, p. 2. Among his other targets were private photography studios that did nude photography (Ibid., Au? gust 13, 1954, see. C, p. 1) and bars whose female employees solicited drinks from cus- tomers (Ibid., December 21, 1954, see. B, p. 1). 89Herald,August 27, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 90Ibid., August 28, 1954, see. A, p. 6.; News, August 27, 1954, see. A, p. 14. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 337 coverage: "We must have our city's moral [sic] condition improved. We cannot have our children brought up in this atmosphere of declining moral? ity."92 Local representatives to the state legislature asserted that the solution was increased funding for state facilities to treat "sex deviates"; beyond that they favored "cany legislation that will control this type of individual and prevent his coming to the Miami area.'"93 In another front-page story in the local section, the Herald reported that one commissioner, an amateur hyp- notist, offered to cure homosexuals with hypnotism. He claimed that he had successfully hypnotized a sixteen-year-old boy who had been picked up by police for unnatural sex acts?"T told him he would not have the desire to do things like that anymore.'"94 Further expanding upon the sense of crisis, the Herald sent a young reporter into Bayfront Park on a Saturday night with instructions to sit on a bench. In a Sunday feature article he wrote how, within an hour, he was approached three times, describing in detail how all three men were older and far heavier than he and how disgusted he felt at the advances.95 At first city manager E. A. Evans and police chief Headley were at a loss as to how to respond. No laws gave them the power to shut down bars simply for serving homosexual customers. Headley, while defending his policy of letting homosexuals "congregate in several places rather in? stead of [sic] scattering them over the city," said that he would cooperate with the mayor but the commission would have to pass a law giving him the power to shut down the bars. The mayor and the media, however, were demanding immediate action; Aronovitz claimed that the police could "use existing liquor laws to make it uncomfortable for people who gain financially from people who are sick in the mind."96 Although Evans supported Headley's policy, it was evident that Aronovitz's threat to have the commission fire him was a real one. After conferring with the mayor and Headley, Evans announced that he was ordering the police to reverse their bar policy. In a Herald story headlined "Evans Sets Thursday as D- Day," he also announced that Miami police would begin a crackdown on bars catering to homosexuals on the following day97 The next day the Herald further announced the upcoming raids in a story with a banner headline: "Pervert Clean-Up Starts Tonight?Late Spots Face Police Crackdown?Operators of Bars Warned in Advance" (see Figure 3).98 9lHerald, August 28,1954, see. B, p. 1. 92Ibid., August 29, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 93Ibid., August 30, 1954, see. D, p. 1. 94Ibid., August 31,1954, see. B, p. 1. 95Ibid., August 29, 1954, see. A, p. 2. 96News,August 27, 1954, see. A, p. 1. 97Herald, September 1, 1954, see. C, p. 1. 98Ibid., September 2, 1954, see. C, p. 1. 338 Fred Fejes Pervert Cleanup Starts Tonight frl.000 Expgctrd School Officials Puzzled as Only 47.364 Register Figure 3. Pervert Cleanup Starts Tonight, September 2,1954. Reprinted with permission of the Miami Herald. The Herald's campaign was capped with a prominent center-page edi? torial?headlined "Soft Police Policy Toward Perverts Results Only in Evil"?which argued that an article in a "magazine published for homo? sexuals" had "helped to advertise Miami throughout the nation as friendly and to bring a crop of deplorable characters to the city"; as a result the pervert problem had "become worse in Miami than probably any other place in the United States (see Figure 4)." The Herald presented its bill of indictment against homosexuals. While some "sex deviationists [sic] are misguided or misled unfortunates" and entitled to understanding and help, most others are "outright exhibitionists who delight in spectacularly parading their unnatural bias,. . . trouble mak? ing show-offs who quarrel among themselves and frequently become par- ties to serious crime." They "have a fixed purpose to lead others, particularly juveniles, into their orbit." Equally objectionable was that homosexuals were easy victims of crime. They were "ready foils for intimidation and coer- cion," and their public conduct "attracts and stimulates the mugger and rapist." And, as revealed in the Simpson murder, "they are willing subjects of jest and design in our public schools." Attesting to the significance and importance the Herald gave to this issue, an editorial cartoon accompanied the text, graphically expressing the thrust ofthe HeraWs concern. "Powder Puff Lane" was drawn as a group of red-light bars, with a large banner over them proclaiming "Miami Welcomes Deviates." Standing in front of the The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 339 ITakft'Offlrtal'And ?WMconie' Off Doormnl Soit Police Policy Toward Perverts Results Only ln Evil *ex rERVEnMox i* ? ! The- bnsaptlau *tteaau prrsstni puhlle problrm. gtTeaj a> wbiek fceeeai pan? IIhaibeen permitlrrito h>- A Promolion WcCanDo Without lela(fcer*4ttfbidtatrtcte come \vorj? JnMlaml than other date. probably any other place ln That era tedto-polUlcaLr iheUnited Staft*.? trolthrough whtch tM-* Some icxdcvUtlenfsls ar* ovtrlorda fltledtheir poce mliguulcd ortnliledunfortun- withprotecUoo money ti ?teiwhoaretryine, towork .. bunintntsery, outquiet andreatorably nor. taaa aod raeollingerlma. mtl, If reprejsed. Uves. They * * *? areentitled toundentandlne; and help. ?OMK TRIHCS canbe (Hfcrr* areen1rlr,M r\hll.|. ihouM bedona Inmedlatel) HodKU naodrlljtbt in?f>rr- clean upUt?pretent d?nj UraUrly peradlag Ihr'r nn> eui concentratlonnerrf nilBralbenia. Mayor AbtAronorlU hUflnier iou?rely onthe They IwlMtlhat theirtwi-tcd Jor wrong. ihlnkine. and notpuhUr Urren. That laPallca CbtelWil y ahould controlofficialcon- H*a4l#|'a ptMem pvUry ilurttoward ihein. caeoarattai baainiMiiaaU Theia trnnblemAlntf fho>v. rmeregat* la crrtalak olf? "??!.quarrrl amnna. them. ?n4daba wNh?. aahaia andfreqnenity hccome "IT*caawalefe aeaa." parile?to?eriou?cilmrs. Thry ir?re.irty folH forln. Trrthat haiheen < llmldallcn tho*e androerciiti uiidrrwmM r>v rliar.Klrr* mended lnaAa maiaalna.pub tt-lm u?* edfortiomofcxual*. ?Ircrediil'mandfear Hhelped toadvertl<eM exact their evilnurpotrs. thrnuRhout thena11e n afUrd parp<M? friendlyand tobrtni ?r , iThryjbete Irad ochrre. panlrnliTljr deplorable charactert 10 umllre, laletbrlrorblt. Their rmWIe conduct attram Threa w?k? have brought UU? 1Iand itimuiaies the therapln rougger irtd thechll||n? Isreaplng only ?*11 th. realliatlon from A recent murder rerraled i?Ihat they arethewtlllna; *uh- Bayfnmt Park, Uia < Jecta.ol'jest and d?l(m tnour kvelleet park aloti*tha J*publle ike icboole. offerlng a re> attractahotnoaejruela atr wiungjinvitaUon W?tothelrirankj. to reenilis. fa# loolclnf f4clnapa* -With echoola reopenlnitnext ??tfcrn foopea Inat vttfttheohlltatjon to do HtaeWc* tjatyeatnu ? totnethtng haibecome mora * ? miami t.*Mi m1 m'urcixxi.Nc to bnrkle jdown'to thet?iko< deallngj wfttv Iti thecklngty largecolony ofwch homoiex- 'Ewrythlng uali. |Ul?gettlne; toIryrrrrythlng fri?m?ayfrankjy th?t thatU le, And. much wtll-?riM tnaprndlnx mll- knownthuran U??re 1slmit hedonetocura Tney forln-posfttMa tomika Mlaml i meant | but.vmount adticehjpa?(l?m Unna i*roprrlal ?? faoaplialathtse could from Mince, dlitract. thabaaic . tractive ficu done. to them ahouM from wnaieurt. making mnr*?core fnrdttlatca. peofjle. that::?. .-|- . ? ? Eodlng therekr oompleic any attempt atan1n> ThatMlnjfxbtt oit, thli ln hanfotrtatt the flrit ttrp teMgem eoluUon. r AU tbls.in thefact o|compt-notlm?s H?r olDttc-cutf *ujtgrv hiebrcome-?rie MliltVil capi? ' Itc~erdue lonx cteanup. lentRJedtcal, andtlont piyehlatrlc <heirouldettract eventalnf.the attracu free-whaaJart, latime we takaboth more.?nrt mny notonly" hc ertb^anencoyraglnr police and?wekome'.o" flctel" euihorltltt ?psychojoflral who coetly. d?ngeiously hfit drpartment polley. door nwt. F i g u re 4. Soft Police Policy Toward Perverts Results Only In Evil, September 2, 1954. Reprinted with permission ofthe Miami Herald. bars was John Q. Public angrily ordering police chief Headley, armed with a broom, to "Tear it down and clean up." The cartoon was titled "A Promo? tion We Can Do Without."99 Given the publicity and advance notice, the bar raids that followed that night and throughout the first two weeks of September 1954 were anticli- mactic. That evening police found many ofthe targeted bars closed; those still open were almost empty. Police managed to jail four bartenders, one for excessive noise on the jukebox, another for selling drinks to a drunk, and two for selling a drink to a twenty-year-old Marine in civilian clothes. While throughout the controversy lesbians were rarely mentioned or included as part ofthe threat that homosexuals posed to the city, the News now noted "Ibid., see. A, p. 6. 340 Fred Fejes that one ofthe bars raided "caterefd] to lesbians."100 The raids were accom- panied by a sweep ofthe city's Bayfront Park?resulting in the arrest of one man accused by two sixteen-year-old boys of making improper advances.101 Although the arrests were minimal, the change in policy and the raids were deemed a success. Evans announced that Miami's perverts were chased "un- derground or out of town." He ordered police to maintain their vigilance. "This isn't just for a few days. This is a long range proposition."102 State involvement in the crackdown expanded in the days that followed. Concerned that Miami's homosexuals might move north to escape the law enforcement efforts, the state attorney in Fort Lauderdale announced he was compiling a list of all sex deviates who had been arrested in South Florida: "We'll not tolerate that type of person and if they come here prompt action will be taken." Dade County law officers promised to pro? vide names from Dade County.103 Florida's acting governor Charley Johns appointed a local Miami attorney, Morey Raymond, to investigate the situation and help coordinate the effort of local and state officials.104 Mayor Aronovitz expressed his satisfaction with police efforts, noting that "I have asked nothing more than the proper morality and dignity of the city be maintained."105 After the first raid Aronovitz announced that at the next city commission meeting he would introduce an ordinance that banned bars from selling liquor to "suspected perverts."106 However, by now the campaign against the bars was rapidly losing momentum. Attor? ney Raymond observed, Presence of sexual deviates has always been a problem in this world. It is a mistake for us to think that Miami has some special responsibility to launch a drive against perverts in general. . . . We must remain level headed in our drive against pervert hangouts. Embarrassing questions asked of law-abiding citizens could give the city a bad name, and false arrest could lead to expensive court actions. We must be careful.107 When Aronovitz introduced his ordinance for first reading the following week, it met with a less than enthusiastic response. As proposed, the ordi? nance prohibited persons ofthe same sex "to embrace, caress or dance" in a public place. It also banned a person from adopting "the mannerisms, 100Ibid.,September 2, 1954, see. A, p. 3; News, September 3, 1954, see. B, p. 3; ibid., September 9, 1954, see. A, p. 4. 101Ibid. 102Ibid.,September 4, 1954, see. A, p. 4. l0*Herald, September 9, 1954, see. C, p. 12; September 10, 1954, see. A, p. 8. 104News,September 7, 1954, see. A, p. 4. 105Herald,September 5, 1954, see. A, p. 9. 106Ibid.,September 9, 1954, see. A, p. 4. 107Ibid.,September 11,1954, see. B, p. 5. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 341 gestures, dress or facial make-up ofthe opposite sex" and prohibited the "association with homosexuals in public places." Finally it banned the sale of liquor to "any homosexual person, lesbian or pervert as the same are commonly accepted and understood."108 One commissioner pointed out that women frequently embrace and kiss in public. Another commissioner objected to the provision that prohibited association in public places with homosexuals. "I think that's wrong. . . . There are some in this court- house every day." The ordinance passed its first reading with a number of commissioners approving it with reservations and one voting against it, calling some ofthe provisions "absurd." The proposed law was revised, limiting it to a prohibition on bars serv- ing homosexuals.109 By the time the law received final approval in mid- October, the campaign against bars and the panic about homosexuals was over and press attention to the topic had dwindled away. In its report of the commission meeting the Herald briefly mentioned the passage ofthe ordinance, but only after discussing the main topic ofthe meeting?the passage of an ordinance banning the sale of crime and horror comic books to juveniles.110 A number ofthe bars had shut down, changed owners, or were taking steps to "clean up their places."111 In December the moral panic over the city's homosexuals was officially brought to an end of sorts. In a short interview with the Herald, the head ofthe Miami police Liquor Squad announced that there were no longer any bars in Miami "where perverts are congregating as they once did." He attributed this to the police crackdown that began in September. He noted that the "pervert population here had definitely decreased" since the raids. However "he wouldn't hazard a guess at [sic] where the perverts have gone."112 That Miami no longer welcomed homosexuals was also emphasized by the response of ONE to the media's campaign. Any positive impression that the magazine might have given about Miami in its previous articles was quickly dispelled. In a cover article, entitled "Miami Hurricane," the editors of ONE compared the campaign against homosexuals in Miami to the hur- ricanes that threatened the area that fall, attributing its sudden appearance and ferocity to the ambitions of local politicians who found attacking ho? mosexuals a convenient political ploy. Using extensive quotes from the Her? ald and News, with a minimum of their own editorial comment, the editors let the events and the press coverage speak for itself, noting that the natural hurricanes did their damage elsewhere, unlike "the trumped-up twister that 108Ibid.,September 16, 1954, see. C, p. 5. 109Section3-14, City of Miami Code 1957. noHerald, October 21, 1954, see. D, p. 1. nTbid., September 11, 1954, see. B, p. 5; December 12, 1954, see. B, p. 5. 112Ibid.,December 13, 1954, see. B, p. 8. 342 Fred Fejes rose from William Simpson's death and raged forth in conjunction with the unbridled ambitions of several Florida politicians."113 The moral panic that dominated Miami's newspapers and public life in early September dissipated so quicldy that by mid-October the passage of the bar law barely received passing mention because the threat which fueled the panic had been met. A national homophile magazine's claim that Miami's police maintained a tolerant policy toward homosexuals and that their civic right to congregate in bars received a modicum of respect there represented a serious danger to the campaign to reform Miami's reputa? tion. Since the publication ofthe January article in ONE about Miami, the Herald?as guardian of civic morality and respectability?sought a plat- form from which to launch a campaign erasing the image of Miami as a tolerant place for homosexuals. The murder of Judith Ann Roberts, con- necting as it did into the general panic about sex crimes and child molesta- tion, provided the first opportunity for the Herald to raise the charge that the policy of official tolerance toward homosexuals provided a civic atmo- sphere conducive to murderous sex perverts. As the police investigation quickly began to focus on Roberts's family and their associates, the Herald's campaign was frustrated. The fortuitous murder of Simpson, however, pre? sented another opportunity. Although the crime was an act of homophobic violence against a homosexual, the Herald was able to reconstruct it as an offense against the moral character ofthe city for which homosexuals and the bars that catered to them were responsible. Yet the ultimate goal was not to drive the "perverts" out of town or even necessarily to close the bars. Rather, the goal was to guarantee that homosexuality be regarded as a stigmatized behavior for which, like gam? bling, petty corruption, and other acceptable pre-war vices, there would be no public tolerance. The bold headlines, statements from authorita- tive figures, and prominent coverage were intended to alter any concep- tions to the contrary. Once that point was made, the campaign was over. Significantly, the Herald would not, or could not, extend the campaign to a generalized witch-hunt against homosexuals in government and civic life. Moreover, the campaign against the bars never generated wide pub? lic support nor a response comparable, for example, to concerns over child molestation.114 113LynPedersen (Jim Kepner), "Miami Hurricane," ONE, November 1954, pp. 4-8. 114TheHerald's campaign conforms loosely to Goode and Ben-Yehuda's model of an "elite-engineered" moral panic in which a campaign is engineered over an issue or group that elites recognize is not terribly harmful to society, but which allows them to pursue other major goals or deal with other major threats to their interests. The following year in Boise, Idaho, as chronicled by John Gerassi, a similar elite-engineered moral panic over homosexuality occurred (The Boysof Boise: Viee and Folly in An American City [New York: The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami}s Homosexuals 343 The Herald never specifically argued in news stories or editorials that all homosexuals were child molesters or that all homosexuals represented a threat to civic morality?although a casual reader could easily draw that impression from the news coverage. Such limitations in their campaign may have represented a grudging and limited acknowledgment of ONE's criti? cisms of Director Sullivan's too easy conflation of homosexuals with child molesters and of the homophile journal's demand for the respect of the rights of homosexuals?or at least for those who remained closeted and did not frequent the bars or parks. But an even more important clue to the campaign's limits may be found in the fact that it was noted more than once in the press coverage that Miami had a "large" (by the standards ofthe day) homosexual population and that some of its members occupied prominent places in social and civic life.115 The following year the Florida legislature, citing the situation in Mi? ami, passed a major sexual psychopath law which provided for the institu- tionalization of any one either convicted or accused of a sex crime, to be held until released with a positive psychiatric evaluation. Once released the person was not liable for criminal prosecution. However, the courts quickly found the law to be unconstitutional when a man accused of a heterosexual rape attempted to use the statute to avoid trial. In 1957 a new, harsher law was written by which a person charged with any type of crime could be evaluated for propensities toward committing sex crimes. MacMillan, 1966]). However, in contrast to Miami's panic, this one did generate wide public support and led to a generalized witch-hunt and arrest of homosexuals, some of them socially prominent. Also in contrast to Miami's panic, Gerassi argues that the panic was engineered by the conservative local elite as a way of discrediting a reformist group which controlled city government. See also Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 6-8, 135. 115Itis difficult to document the nature and characterof Miami's homosexual community and whether indeed some of its members occupied prominent positions. One subject in Sears' oral history of Miami during the 1950s recalled that it was well-known within the homosexual community that "family members of high (city) administration officials . . . were secretiy queer" and that the message to city law enforcement and others was "stay with the peons. Don't go across the board. Keep busting the bars,keep raiding the beaches, keep prowling the parks, but don't move into business or political communities" (Sears, 45). Both the limits imposed upon the HeraWs campaign and its quick termination may also have been due to the intervention of the Knight brothers. Pennekamp, a newspaper man who received his training in the days when being a reporter was hardly regarded as a respectable career, was often suspicious of the "Miami Club crowd," or the members of Miami's business, political, and social elite who belonged to the local exclusive city club. He tended to regard their civic and charitable activities as "cover-ups for their own nefari- ous schemes" (Smiley, 283). The local establishment, in turn, often viewed Pennekamp's strident editorial campaigns with concern. The Knight brothers, as owners ofthe newspaper, generally focused most of their ener- gies on the business aspects ofthe newspaper. However, they were very much a part ofthe 344 Fred Fejes Upon such a finding that person would be institutionalized until a posi? tive psychiatric evaluation. Upon release, the suspect would then be brought to trial for the original crime.116 Conclusion The previous policy of benign neglect and discreet limited tolerance was now replaced with one of stigmatized tolerance. The manifest goal ofthe 1954 campaign?closing down bars that served homosexuals?was quickly forgotten. Roughly a year and a half later, the News ran a three-part series entitled "Profits in Perversion." The series revealed that many ofthe bars closed in 1954 were again open and catering to the same clientele.117 It also reported that the 1954 bar law was quietly forgotten after its passage and had not been enforced.118 Prompted by the investigation, Miami po? lice conducted a series of bar raids that resulted in fifteen arrests.119 How? ever, the overall response to the News's expose was muted. The Herald ignored the situation. Sheriff Kelly denied that there was "any increase in homos." Miami police chief Headley noted that the influx of new homo? sexuals was "no greater than the proportion of the rest of the tourists" Miami establishment and closely socialized and identified with the group that Pennekamp often held up for criticism. Tensions often rose between the Knight brothers and Pennekamp over the latter's editorial activities, and the brothers were often uncomfortable with his "black and white" style of editorializing, particularlywhen it affected the interests of their social and business acquaintances (Smiley, 202-3, 283-84). Matters came to a head in 1957 when the Herald was sued for libel by the Dade County state attorney over a Pennekamp-directed editorial questioning the official's reasons for suppressing a grand jury report on local political corruption. The suit was successful, costing the newspaper $100,000. The Knight brothers began to search for a replacement for Pennekamp and in 1958 hired Don Shoemaker, who quickly assumed direction ofthe HeraWs editorial policy, instituting a "more balanced" perspective on local affairs. Pennekamp stayed on with reduced respon- sibilities. In 1960, in recognition of Pennekamp's effort on behalf ofthe environment, the state of Florida created the John Pennekamp State Park, in Key Largo, the first underwater park in the United States, containing one ofthe world's major coral reefs (Smiley 202-3, 283-89). He retired from the Herald in 1977 and died the following year at the age of eighty {Herald, June 18, 1978, see. A, pp. 1, 26). 116JohnWallace Hamilton, "Florida's Rehabilitative Sex Offender Laws," University of Florida Law Review 15 (1962): 245-62. U7News,February 27, 1956, see. A, p. 1; February 28, 1956, see. A, p. 4. 118Thelaw remained on the books. In the 1960s RichardInman ofthe Florida Mattachine Society unsuccessfully attempted to have it declared unconstitutional (Herald, January 16, 1968, see. B, p. 2). However, the law, along with Miami Beach's law outlawing drag, became the focus of local gay rights activists in the early 1970s. Challenged in court, the bar law was declared unconstitutional in December 1971 (Ibid., December 10, 1971, see. C, p. 2) and the anti-drag law in June 1972 (Ibid., June 23, 1972, see. C, p. 1). 119News,February 27, 1956, see. A, p. 2. The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 345 and the chief of detectives noted that there were always some homosexu? als in South Florida: "it's like brushing off mosquitoes, but there is no great problem." Mayor Aronovitz, who had retired from his position in city government for health reasons, was unavailable to lead another cru- sade. As the News concluded, occasional raids stemmed from complaints, but "the unwritten policy of most Dade County law enforcement officials is one of containment, which means: 'As long as they stay among them? selves and don't cause too much trouble, let 'em alone.'"120 Even Crime Commission director Sullivan, who three years earlier had called for an arousedpublic indignation against Miami's "pervert" bars as breeding grounds for child molesters, now downplayed the "homosexual problem." In the spring of 1957, prompted by reports of "fights and at? tempted suicides stemming from discord among homosexuals and between perverts and night club entertainers," the Commission investigated the ho? mosexual situation in Miami and found "considerable homosexual activity in public places . . . among males and females." In particular around the 22nd Street beach observers noted an "obvious and open flirtation among homosexuals" and "a general degenerate atmosphere." Yet, Sullivan was quick to point out a lack of connection between the "increase of perverts and commercial vice." Indeed, a more serious problem requiring immedi- ate action was the increasing number of complaints about female bar em- ployees who solicited drinks from vacationing customers: "We found that B-girls are still operating openly in Miami, in spite ofthe new ordinance which makes their activities illegal."121 Only the editors of ONE took notice. In an article in the April-May 1956 issue they strongly criticized the "Profits in Perversion" series ofthe News. However, in contrast to their original article, the journal made no mention of Miami's unofficial policy of "containment" and tolerance, which had been noted in the Newsy series. Instead, perhaps mindful of how their previous commendation of Chief Headley's policy of non-harassment had provoked the Miami media, the magazine advised its readers, "Miami is a pretty town, not well planned, miserably equipped culturally, but none- theless quite attractive to persons hoping to transplant. Though smaller and sleazier than New York, L.A. and such, Miami has some advantages, particularly sun. This writer would gladly urge homosexuals not to move to Miami?but they won't listen."122 Although the bars catering to homosexuals had reopened, the 1954 moral panic fundamentally changed the media and the political environment 120Ibid.,February 28, 1956, see. A, p. 6. 121Herald,June 7, 1957, see. B, p. 2. Two months later he was appointed Safety Direc- tor for the new Metro-Dade government, giving him broad responsibilities for law enforce? ment in Dade County (News, August 2, 1957, see. A, p. 2). 122LynPedersen, "Miami's New Type Witchhunt," ONE, April-May 1956, p. 9. 346 Fred Fejes regarding homosexuals. The media coverage following the summer's mur- ders provided an extensive education for the public about the nature of homosexuality and the homosexual community in Miami. Prior to the sum? mer of 1954, homosexuals, if discussed at all in the media, were depicted as harmless gender inverts; now they were regarded at best as pathetic sick creatures or, at worst, as perverted sexual predators and child molesters who constituted a serious threat to society. While the homosexual commu? nity in Miami continued to grow in size and visibility, the climate of stigma- tized tolerance permitted officials and other public figures periodically to resurrect the threat of homosexuality. Throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s periodic raids of their bars?particularly around election time? were an established feature of life for homosexuals in Miami. In the late 1950s and early 1960s Charley Johns, having lost the campaign to be elected governor in his own right and now a state senator with frustrated state- wide political ambitions, found an easy target when he led a legislative com? mittee which conducted an ongoing investigation into homosexuality in Florida's public universities. Johns, at one point, estimated that at least 120 faculty and administrators at the University of Florida were practicing ho? mosexuals and that up to 10 percent ofthe university's 12,000 male stu? dents "were infected." Over 100 faculty and administrators were removed from Florida's universities and an untold number of students were forced to leave. Even some twenty years later, the indictment of homosexuality and homosexuals found in the Heraldh 1954 editorials strongly resonated in the rhetoric of Anita Bryant's 1977 "Save Our Children" campaign that successfully repealed local legislation aimed at protecting the rights of lesbi? ans and gays in Dade County.123 The two murders that ignited the 1954 moral panic continued to at- tract media attention. The body of William Simpson was transported back to his family home in Louisville, Kentucky, for burial. In early November 1954, Charles Lawrence and Richard Killen went on trial for his murder. Prosecutors charged them with first-degree murder, which carried the death penalty; however, the jury had the option of convicting the pair on lesser charges of either second-degree murder or manslaughter. After a three- 123Sears,212-57, 48-84; Ellen McGarrahan, "Florida's Secret Shame," Tropics{Miami Herald Sunday Magazine), December 8, 1991, pp. 9-16; James A. Schnur, "Closet Cru- saders: The Johns Committee and Homophobia, 1956-1965," in Carryiny On in the Les? bian and Gay South,ed. John Howard (New York:New York University Press, 1997), 132- 63; John Loughery, The Other Side ofSilence: Men's Lives and Gay Identities: A Twentieth Century History (New York: Henry Holt, 1998), 371-88; Dudley Clendinen and Adam Nagourney, Out for Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998), 291-311; Anita Bryant, The Anita Bryant Story: The Survival ofOur Nation's Families and the Threat ofMilitant Homosexuality (Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1977). The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals 347 day trial, with the jury deliberating four hours, Killen and Lawrence were found guilty of manslaughter and given a twenty-year sentence. In choos- ing the manslaughter charge instead of murder, a number of jurors noted that the youths' "accusations of homosexuality against Simpson made a big difference" in the jury's decision.124 The investigation into the murder of Judith Ann Roberts continued into the fall and winter months of 1954. At one point her father was con? sidered the prime suspect; he was arrested in late September, but was re? leased in December when the evidence against him proved faulty. Roberts's grandfather was also a major suspect and was tailed by police until, charg- ing harassment, he obtained a court order halting the surveillance. In 1956 the unsolved case was an issue in the race for county state attorney with the successful candidate winning with the promise to "Make Murder a Crime in Miami." However, further investigation yielded nothing. In the early 1970s a woman reported to police that her husband, during a fit of rage, had threatened to kill her and shouted that he had killed before; he yelled the name of Judith Ann Roberts. At the time ofthe murder he was a six- teen-year-old drifter in Miami. He had been found near the Roberts's house on the day of the murder, questioned by police, and released. He had a criminal record and his wife said that he had a "hang-up" about very young girls. A polygraph test revealed him to have, in the words ofthe examiner, a "psychopathic personality" due to the lack of any emotional response in his denial of the murder.However, all the evidence was circumstantial or inadmissable and no charges were pressed. The murder of Judith Ann Roberts was never officially solved. Yet as Miami's first child sex murder, the case remains in its collective memory, representing, in the words of the Heraldy a "loss of innocence" for the young city.125 124Herald,November 4,1954, see. C, p. 1; November 11,1954, see. C, p. 1; November 15, 1954, see. C, p. 1. In December 1975 in an ironic and tragic coda to the Simpson murder, 30-year-old John S. Knight III, grandson of John Knight, was found murdered in his home in Philadelphia. Working as an editor at the Knight-owned newspaper Philadel? phia Daily News, he was being groomed to take over his family's newspaper business. In the highly sensational news coverage that followed, it was revealed that he was a homosexual? detailed accounts were given of his closeted life in local newspapers, including the Daily News?and had been the murder victim in a robbery scheme by a group of male hustlers. Jerry W. Knudson, "Philadelphia Story: The Murder of John S. Knight III," Mass Commu? nication Review 6:2 (1979): 11-16. 125"JudithAnn Roberts: A Loss of Innocence."

Log In

Murder, Perversion and Moral Panic: The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals

Murder, Perversion and Moral Panic: The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals

Murder, Perversion and Moral Panic: The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals

Murder, Perversion and Moral Panic: The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals

Murder, Perversion and Moral Panic: The 1954 Media Campaign Against Miami's Homosexuals

Related Papers

RELATED PAPERS