Boise Newspaper Starts Anti-Gay Panic

In an editorial titled “Crush the Monster,” the Idaho Daily Statesman, a newspaper in Boise, announces that the “evils of moral perversion prevail in Boise on an extensive scale.” The editorial sets off a public panic that lasts for over a year and leads to over 1400 men being questioned by the police. The Boise City Council calls for the conviction of all homosexuals. Many gay men fled the city.

1955-11-03