The Long, Sordid History of the Gay Conspiracy Theory

Contents:

• THE RISE OF THE GAY MAFIA, A POWERFUL CABAL THAT NEVER EXISTED
• THE LONG, SORDID HISTORY OF THE GAY CONSPIRACY THEORY
• THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S SECRET GAY CABAL
• ADAPTED OM SECRET CITY: THE HIDN HISTORY OF GAY WASHGTON BY JAM KIRCHICK. PUBLISHED BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY. COPYRIGHT © 2022 BY JAM KIRCHICK. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.
• THE GAY CHURCH

THE RISE OF THE GAY MAFIA, A POWERFUL CABAL THAT NEVER EXISTED

But there was a time Amerin history when there was a real fear that a gay mafia—known llectively as “homterns”—existed, wieldg ntrol across Hollywood and throughout the arts and entertament dtri. In his new book Homtern: How Gay Culture Liberated the Morn World, English amic Gregory Woods chronicl the rise of the “homtern, ” explorg how the longstandg fear of homosexual men spurred a century-long paranoia about an alleged gay mafia ntrollg areas of ernment, the arts and amia. In the mid-19th century the pair rrpond about the threat of “perasts”—an antiquated term referrg to men who had sex wh younger men, sce “homosexual” did not yet exist as a label—to their goal of tablishg non-sexual raship between other men.

” This sire to study and fe sexual behavr further phed rearchers to “un-closet” the homosexual, all an effort to mystify a sexual inty that had long been ostracized and stigmatized but never really pned down through scientific quiry. Des later, “homtern” entered Cold War disurse, beg reappropriated by nspiracy theorists that exploed s munist associatn and claimed referred to a longstandg “ternatnal homosexual nspiracy” across the untry, whose one goal was to perate posns the Amerin ernment and urp tradnal Amerin valu of fay and heterosexualy.

THE LONG, SORDID HISTORY OF THE GAY CONSPIRACY THEORY

Wh Amerins fearful of the tonatn of an atomic bomb and a enzy about polics beg overtaken by munist fectors, the elive figure of the homosexual—known but never seen public; closeted but apparently everywhere—was ripe to explo to spire fear.

Woods says that the anxieti around homosexuals Cold War Ameri take some of their orig the social “cleansg” mpaigns enacted Nazi Germany and Soviet Rsia, mpaigns lnched to eradite homosexual men (and other “unwanted” dividuals) om society.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S SECRET GAY CABAL

The backlash agast homosexuals was only pound by the growg visibily of gay men public life, pecially the arts and entertament dtri, which only pound the ia of an unrground nspiracy of a “gay mafia. ” In 1966, one New York Tim cric mentned the wispread perceptn that bee the men were homosexuals their plays “prent[ed] a badly distorted picture of Amerin women, marriage and society. Although the men were not “out, ” mors of their sexualy circulated wily Hollywood and galvanized an image of Hollywood beg overn by gay men, many who allegedly wield power and tonomy.

All the same, the homtern’s awakeng of fear public life 1950s Ameri monstrat an important narrative, remdg there was a time when the ia of a “gay mafia” lg Hollywood was a legimate ncern. Favalora, who was the most powerful Catholic official Southern Florida om 1994 until last year, stands acced of cultivatg what one group of pissed-off Catholics scrib as a rpt "homosexual superculture" the 195 church, schools, missns, semari, and universi that nstute the Miami Archdce. If their allegatns are to be believed, for sixteen years Favalora ran his anizatn like the don of a lavenr mob, rewardg his favore homosexual sons and fivg their many discretns—rampant sex, hedonism, embezzlement, alholism, and the railroadg of chaste prits among them—while punishg those wh the temery to pla.

ADAPTED OM SECRET CITY: THE HIDN HISTORY OF GAY WASHGTON BY JAM KIRCHICK. PUBLISHED BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY. COPYRIGHT © 2022 BY JAM KIRCHICK. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.

A Kd of Gay Hogwarts Wh Palm TreHere are jt some of the un-Catholic behavrs that "Miami Vice" acc Favalora of engagg : He partially owned a pany that manufactured Yohimbe, an aphrodisiac beverage marketed to horny club-kids wh the promise of "the hands-down bt sex of your life. ") Favalora's send- and third--mand, Monsignor William Hennsey and Monsignor Michael Souckar, are both acced by Christefilis of beg active homosexuals—and if they are, that unts among the least of their difficulti wh Catholic fact, the Archdce was a hotbed of sodomy long before Favalora set foot Florida.

One semarian who dropped out disgt the 1980s rells a miserable year beg bullied by gay faculty, and the rector, Robert Lynch, fawng over his favore semarian: an attractive upper-classman named Steven O'Hala.

THE GAY CHURCH

"I probably entered [the semary] partially bee I was attracted to the ia of beg a gay environment, " says Fuchs, an ede gay man who now liv wh his hband Washgton, D. Father Anibal Moral (Right, photo via Archdce of Miami)Moral may or may not have had a light touch wh parish funds—if he did, he's hardly unual—but he was almost certaly a homosexual. They wonred: Why was the Archdce fendg a non-celibate homosexual wh a history of unpritly behavr, and stg asi a vout, heroic prit who'd sgle-handly rcued one of s parish?