First Advisor
Jennifer Kerns
Date of Award
Spring 6-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in History and University Honors
Department
History
Language
English
Subjects
Homosexuality, Idaho, Boise, Sexuality, Queer, Scandal
DOI
10.15760/honors.1521
Abstract
On October 31, 1955, three men were arrested and accused of performing homosexual acts in the quiet, suburban community of Boise, Idaho. The arrests set off a sweeping investigation of Boise's "widespread homosexual underground" that made national news and resulted in more than one thousand police interrogations and the conviction of fifteen homosexual Boiseans. Though Boise's moral panic and the ensuing investigation are among the largest of the sex panics of the 1950s, the city's 1955 homosexuality scandal has attracted relatively little scholarly attention. An in-depth analysis of the social, economic, and political forces that combined to produce hysteria in the community is necessary to properly situate the scandal's victims in their historical context. Decades of public discourse that gradually supplanted pre-war notions of same-sex sexuality with the medicalized, nefarious figure of "the homosexual" primed Boise's residents for a negative response to homosexuality in the city. Powerful post-World War II cultural imperatives concerning suburbanization and reproduction further contributed to Boise's panic once news broke of the city's ongoing homosexuality investigation. Additionally, a variety of factors unique to Boise, such as local economic concerns and Mormon advocacy groups, ensured the scandal's longevity and massive scope. These overlapping historical forces and their role in Boise, Idaho's 1955 sex scandal provide crucial insight into early American understandings of homosexuality and homophobia.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42120
Recommended Citation
Hadrick, Ian, ""Crush the Monster": Homosexuality and Moral Panic in 1950s Idaho" (2024). University Honors Theses. Paper 1489.
https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.1521