Between the fall of 1955 and spring of 1956, sixteen men were arrested in a moralistic scandal that gripped Boise. Allegedly, they were arrested to protect children from sex crimes for which there was very little evidence, but with historical perspective, the scandal was just one ripple effect of the Red and Lavender Scares. Here’s citizen historian Graham McBride on City Cast Boise, breaking down the affair and what it means today.
Q: Who were the “Boys of Boise?”
A: It’s a catchy name for a scandal that ended up involving over a thousand people in Boise in the 1950s. In short, it was a homophobic witch hunt that aimed to aid society but ultimately just destroyed the lives of over a dozen men and damaged the reputation of Boise nationally.
Q: What crimes were these sixteen men charged with?
A: There’s two very different crimes here: one involving adult men taking advantage of their social position by seducing, potentially intoxicating, and paying for sex with teenagers; however, the second crime which under our more contemporary, sophisticated understanding of homosexuality we generally accept in society, and that’s consensual sex between adults of the same gender. Twelve of the 16 men arrested were only charged for consensual acts between adults.
Q: Did this get national attention at the time?
A: This was a somewhat well-known story. TIME Magazine published a story in December of 1955 which was a pretty scathing article, it made Boise sound like a pretty unsophisticated, po-dunk town that was obsessed with sex and curing this thing which any New Yorker had learned to live with years ago. Ultimately, it’s really important that we remember the story, that we retell the story, and that we watch out for any potential missteps we may be making towards the direction of this recurring.
