Monday, May 19, 2008

America's Dark History Sees Light in 'Boise, U.S.A.'

By Sean Borg gaywired.com

"The people of Boise tried to 'stamp out' homosexuality. They discovered it couldn't be done. In the learning process, everybody suffered." - CBS News, 1967

On November 2, 1955, the citizens of Boise, Idaho, woke to headlines screaming about the arrest of three men for infamous crimes against nature. This marked the beginning of an anti-homosexual witch-hunt that saw dozens of local men jailed, their reputations and lives in tatters. The authorities, determined to purge the city of "deviant" individuals, created a moral panic, encouraging families to feel threatened by a "ring of predators", and engendering a climate of accusation and counter-accusation reminiscent of nothing less than Salem in 1692.

Gene Franklin Smith's new play, Boise, U.S.A., explores the emotional drama behind the headlines.

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