The Boys of Boise

"Written in 1965 about a same-sex sexual scandal that occurred in 1955 in Boise, Idaho, John Gerassis classic study depicts both middle Americas traditional response to homosexuality and an era in the countrys history before the modern gay rights movement really got underway. Because much of what Gerassi wrote about persists in todays struggles over gay and lesbian issues, his book still has much to tell us about how contemporary society reacts to, and misunderstands, homosexuality."Peter Boag On the morning of November 2, 1955, the people of Boise, Idaho, were stunned by a screaming headline in the Idaho Daily Statesman, THREE BOISE MEN ADMIT SEX CHARGES. Time magazine picked up the story, reporting that a "homosexual underworld" had long operated in Idahos staid capital city. The Statesman led the hysteria that resulted in dozens of arrestsincluding some highly placed members of the communityand sentences ranging from probation to life imprisonment. Peter Boags Foreword places the book in historical perspective, summarizing the popular psychological theories and legal conceptions that helped to shape Gerassis research. He discusses advances in Idahos public approach to homosexuality and ways in which the provincialism chronicled by Gerassi persists to this day.