17. Mobsters & Mos: How the Mafia Owned Gay Nightlife

Snarky Opener (0:00)

Alls I'm gonna say is, this gives a whole new meaning to leave the gun, take the cannolis. And we're just gonna leave it at that.

Episode Introduction (0:26)

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay.

I'm Rob Loveless, and today I'm a non-jaded gay because, you know when you, like, rediscover music that you haven't listened to in a while?

Yeah, well, the past few days, I've just been on a Lana Del Rey kick. Like, way back to her original albums. Born to Die, Ultraviolence, Paradise.

And I haven't listened to them in probably years. So, it's nice to kind of channel those sad bitch vibes. Like, not in a depressing way, but in an enjoyable way.

So, I've just really been vibing with her music lately.

The Mafia and Gay Nightlife (0:55) 

Anyway, from sad bitch to bad bitch, we are actually going to be talking about the Mafia's involvement with gay bars in New York City in the 60s and 70s.

And now, when you hear the word Mafia, you probably immediately think of The Godfather or The Sopranos, which are iconic in their own rights. But you probably don't associate it with gay bars.

And honestly, I didn't either until last year. I'm in a book club and, for Pride last year, we read the book The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E Pitman, and in the book, she touched upon the Mafia's affiliations with the Stonewall Inn and the Stonewall Riots.

And that was the first I'd ever heard of it. And I think it's interesting to think about because, you know, going off of stereotypes, when you think of the Mafia, you typically think of these, like masculine, macho, tough guys who will beat the shit out of you.

So, obviously, taking that kind of personification and then thinking of seeing that in a gay bar or owning a gay bar, you wouldn't necessarily make that correlation, which is why, in recent years, the Mafia has actually tried to erase that part from their history.

But you might be surprised to know that throughout the 1960s, the Mafia had almost complete control over the gay social scene in New York City.

And it wasn't that they were supporters of the LGBTQ+ community. There was a strategic business incentive for them.

So, we're going to be diving into that history today.

But before we do, let's pull our tarot.

Tarot (2:10) 

So, for today's episode, we pulled the Ace of Pentacles in reverse.

So, for those of you who are tuning in for the first time or don't remember anything I said about tarot in the past, Pentacles is tied to the element of earth.

So, you can think of being grounded. It's also tied to feminine energy, which is more reflective and meditative in nature. And Pentacles kind of sounds confusing.

Originally, in the tarot, they used coins, and Pentacles kind of just takes that place. So, typically, Pentacles is tied to prosperity, our finances.

It also reflects reaping the rewards and the fruits of our labor, so putting in the hard work and then enjoying the success that follows it.

And in the tarot, each of the four suits, the first card in each of the suits are the aces. So, as you remember, tarot is all about cycles, and when you get an ace, you can think of the beginning of a new cycle.

So, this is tied to the start of something. And being the start of something, it's assigned the number one. And a numerology, again, goes back to a new beginning or an individual.

So typically, when we pull the Ace of Pentacles in reverse, it's signifying that there's a delay in achieving abundance.

So basically, it's suggesting that there's an opportunity ahead of us, but maybe our vision's too clouded to see it.

And it could be because we're working too hard on something, or investing too much energy in a task, or a person that's keeping us from achieving our full potential.

So, when we pull this card, it's a reminder that we need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and look around us.

We may not recognize what's directly in front of us, and we need to release our need for absolute control, which, for myself personally, I'm a bit of a control freak.

So, this is a reminder that we can't control everything, and we need to relax and let the path in front of us unfold. And sometimes, we might not see what's directly in front of us.

So, we need to trust our intuition and trust that the universe is providing what we need. It can also indicate that we might be hesitant about moving forward towards a new opportunity or even that an opportunity, specifically financial opportunity that's lying ahead of us, may fall through unexpectedly.

And obviously, this card is very tied to finances, but ultimately, it can suggest that we're trying to manifest our goals, but we keep running into obstacles and challenges that might be delaying us from achieving those goals.

And think about it, if we're trying to achieve a certain goal, but we keep going about it the same way, and we're not reaching that goal, clearly it means the avenue we're taking isn't working for us.

So, going back to the meditative and reflective state of the Ace of Pentacles, we need to step back and look at the actions we've been taking. Maybe there's a new course of action we need to plan out.

Maybe there's a new avenue, or maybe we need to open our eyes and seek assistance from somebody. Regardless, we need to realign our goals and set realistic expectations.

Definitely be ambitious, but remember, you're not going to start off one day and achieve your goal overnight. There's lots of little steps in between to get from point A to point B. And again, with Ace of Pentacles, it's the start of a new cycle.

So, this is a reminder that there's going to be many steps along the way and many cycles to get to that ultimate goal you want to achieve.

And speaking of financial prosperity, let's transition from our tarot into today's topic about the Mafia owning a majority of gay bars and the business opportunities for them behind that.

The History of Gay Bars (5:05)

Now, before we dive into the Mafia's involvement in gay bars and Stonewall, we need to understand a little more about the history of gay bars.

Obviously, in decades past, homosexuality was much less socially accepted than today. So, these bars popped up as safe spaces where LGBTQ+ people could openly socialize.

And you might be surprised to hear this, but gay bars have actually operated in the United States for almost 80 years.

In fact, Cafe Lafitte in Exile on Bourbon Street in New Orleans opened in 1933, and they claim to be the oldest continuously operating gay bar.

However, there is another gay bar, the White Horse Inn in Oakland, California, they officially opened in 1933, but it's rumored that they actually operated as a gay speakeasy since before the end of prohibition.

So, there's a little debate over which one was the first, but still, gay bars have been around as safe spaces for decades.

Gay Bars and Police Raids in 1960s New York (5:56)

And now, we're going to fast forward to New York City in the 1960s.

So, in the early 60s, homosexuality was legal in the state of New York. However, the State Liquor Authority classified establishments that openly served alcohol to gay customers as being quote-unquote disorderly houses.

And they were considered places where unlawful practices were habitually carried on by the public. So, because of this, gay bars were denied liquor licenses, and actually, even straight bars could lose their liquor license if they were caught serving gay customers.

So again, it's legal to be gay, but it's illegal to serve gay people alcohol. Now, despite that, it didn't stop gay bars from operating, and as a result, they were frequently raided by the police.

And when these raids happened, customers weren't being arrested because they were gay but because they were visiting these establishments that served gay people.

And still, while homosexuality wasn't illegal, it definitely was not socially acceptable and quite the taboo. So, being caught in a raid was a big deal.

You know, I've actually read that when these raids happened, they tended to be publicized in newspapers, and they would actually name people who were arrested.

So, if you were somebody who was arrested in a raid, not only would you face legal ramifications, but your name would be published in a newspaper.

Your employer would then fire you, and a lot of times, friends, family, and neighbors would just shun you completely.

So, really, you had no support from friends, family, or your neighborhood community, and you had no incoming finances because your job fired you.

So, gay men at that time would have to pack up their lives, move out of state, and start over somewhere completely new where no one knew them.

Mafia Involvement in Gay Bars Begins (7:28)

Now, around this time, the Mafia saw a strategic business opportunity.

They realized that they could buy cheap properties in New York City, convert them into gay bars, and then they could operate them as private bottle clubs in order to avoid State liquor laws.

So, at that time, a private bottle club was considered an organization where membership was required. So, instead of openly serving alcohol to anyone who came in, you needed to be a quote-unquote member of the establishment to be served.

And by operating as a private bottle club, you didn't need a liquor license to serve members.

So, as a result, these private bottle clubs were not as easily raided by the police because, again, if you're not required to have a liquor license, then you're not being policed as to whether or not you're serving gay people.

Now, this brings us to the Genovese family. They were an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the five families that dominated organized crime in New York City and New Jersey.

By the mid-1960s, the Genovese family controlled the majority of gay bars in Greenwich Village, which was emerging as a gay hub at the time.

Now, they weren't setting up these gay bars out of the goodness of their hearts. There were a couple reasons for doing this.

One, they were making money by running gay bars on the underground. And two, these establishments usually served as fronts where they could conduct illegal activities such as extortion, gambling, and drug dealing.

And we will get to the extortion.

Mafia Ownership of The Stonewall Inn (8:43)

So now let's take a quick pause on the mob dealings and turn our attention toward a restaurant called Bonnie's Stonewall.

It originally was a horse stable, so ew. Let's hope that they cleaned it thoroughly before it became a food and beverage establishment.

And it was later renovated and turned into a speakeasy and then a legitimate cocktail bar before becoming the restaurant.

But in 1964, Bonnie's Stonewall was destroyed in a fire. And this is where the Mafia comes in. In 1966, a young Genovese family member named Tony Lauria, aka Fat Tony, so I'm assuming he was quite thin.

He purchased the property for next to nothing. He did a cheap renovation, and bada bing bada boom, the Stonewall Inn opened as a gay bar.

And just for reference, because gay bars were being run on the down low, they were sleazy dumps, and Stonewall was no different. In fact, let's just go through some of these details here.

Bartenders at Stonewall did not have access to running water behind the bar, so they often served drinks in dirty, used glasses. I mean, I guess the alcohol kills the germs, but still, that's disgusting.

Also, the alcohol served at the bar, which was rumored to be stolen or bootlegged, was actually watered down and sold to patrons at top-shelf prices.

And lastly, Stonewall lacked a rear exit. Kinky. So, there was only a narrow front door as the only means of escape in the event of a fire or emergency.

Now, remember, this was being operated as a private bottle club. So, there was less concern surrounding police interference, which is why Fat Tony was able to get away with these health and safety concerns.

Additionally, the Genovese family was bribing police between $1,200 and $2,000 a month to turn a blind eye to Stonewall's activities.

And again, because Stonewall required a quote-unquote membership, both gay men and mobsters were required to sign in when they entered the bar.

But they often used fake names or nicknames so that gay men could avoid being outed and mobsters could avoid legal ramifications.

And even though the Genovese family was spending money bribing the police, they were still making a profit through their overpriced drinks, illegal activities, and rampant extortion going on at Stonewall.

Mafia Extortion of Gay Patrons (10:38)

So, we have Ed "The Skull" Murphy, who was a member of the Genovese crime family and a former pro wrestler. And he blackmailed Stonewall's gay customers.

And what he would do is he would take their wallets to find out what their real name was because, remember, everyone was using fake names when they signed in.

And then from there, he'd send his mobster friends to that person's home, and he'd have them pretend to be the police moral squad.

So, imagine this. You're a closeted gay man. Monday through Friday, you live a typical heteronormative life. You have your wife and kids, your corporate job, all that stuff.

And then, on weekends, you might tell the wife that you're getting together with your friends for cigars and brandy. But really, you're going to the Stonewall to quote unquote socialize with other gay men.

And you're thinking this Mafia-owned establishment is a safe space. So, you have your drinks, you have your good time, you leave. You think you're done.

And then, Wednesday night, you're having dinner with your family, and there's a knock at the door.

You go and open it, and these two police officers are there, telling you that they're going to out you to your wife and children, your employer, your neighbors, and your life is at risk of being ruined.

Because, again, being gay was a huge taboo at the time. But then wait, they give you an option.

They'll keep quiet if you pay them a large sum of money. So, what are you going to do? Are you gonna say, I'll keep my money and you can destroy my life?

Or are you going to pay them, regardless of the cost, so that way you could keep this little quote-unquote dirty secret of yours under wraps? And that's just what happened.

They would threaten to out these gay men and then have them pay exorbitant prices to keep their secret. And actually, here's a quick little fun fact for you about Ed.

This is from the book The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets. So, first off, he was actually the bouncer at Stonewall the night of the riots.

But secondly, in 1978, he stated that his criminal career was over, and he actually came out as a gay man. And then, from there, he ended up speaking publicly about gay rights until his death.

So, I mean, at least he came around and tried to do his good deed, but that doesn't excuse all the years of extortion to previous closeted gay men. So not great.

Anyway, back to extortion and the mob dealings.

When it came to earning a profit, there were even instances of the bar owners pimping out young gay men. And all this was known at the time, and it was known that Stonewall was a mob bar.

But despite these instances of extortion and the less-than-ideal conditions, it was still extremely popular.

And actually, I'm gonna read a quick quote from History.com:

"Despite its less-than-ideal conditions, Stonewall quickly became a popular destination in the gay community. Even something of an institution. It was the only place where gay people could openly dance close together and, for relatively little money, drag queens, who received a bitter reception at other bars, runaways, homeless LGBT youths, and others could be off the streets as long as the bar was open."

Mafia-Owned Gay Bars & Their Relationship with Police (13:09)

Now, these bars, or quote-unquote private bottle clubs, weren't foolproof, and they weren't immune to raids.

However, since the Mafia was paying off the police, officers would tip off the gay bar owners prior to the raid, and the owners would actually tell the police the best time to come by.

So, they'd be like, oh yeah, it's our turn this month to be raided? Cool. Can you come in at four? Because we only have two people in, and then we'll be ready for our seven o'clock rush. That way, you know, it's not affecting business hours.

And actually, this is kind of what led to some of the anger with the Stonewall Riots. Now, obviously, there's no denying that the riots were a response to LGBTQ+ oppression as a whole.

But there were a few other layers that contributed to this. And one of them was that, the night of the Stonewall Riots in 1969, supposedly the police did not tip off the bar owners, and there was a large crowd present when those raids happened.

Additionally, some scholars actually argued that the Stonewall Riots were not only a resistance against police harassment and discriminatory laws but also against the mob's exploitation of the gay community.

And actually, after the riots, someone wrote a message in chalk on one of Stonewall's boarded-up windows saying gay prohibition corrupts cops, feeds Mafia.

And dollar signs were used in place of the letter S, so there is no word at this time as to whether or not 2009 to 2013 era Kesha was responsible for that, but it is a theory.

In all seriousness, though, the morning following the Stonewall Riots, Craig Rodwell, an LGBTQ+ activist, and his partner, Fred Sargent, prepared a leaflet denouncing the relationship between the police and Stonewall's Mafia management.

And they distributed approximately 5,000 copies of this flyer across New York City, and it was titled Get the Mafia and Cops Out of Gay Bars.

The Mafia-Owned Gay Bar Monopoly Ends (14:44)

But despite this and the initial backlash, the Mafia continued to have a hold on New York gay bars into the 70s.

According to Phillip Crawford Jr's book, The Mafia and the Gays, this monopoly of Mafia-owned gay bars was finally broken in the 80s when federal prosecutors cracked down on New York's crime families.

So again, even though there was this initial backlash, it took about a decade for Mafia management to be cleared out of gay bars.

And I've read a few other articles saying that during that time, that other gay bars that popped up that were not owned by the Mafia were easily put out of business by Mafia-owned clubs.

And I also read, I couldn't find a ton of details on this, so I don't know how factual it is, but I also read that, supposedly, following the Stonewall Riots, the Mafia not only continued to run gay bars, they expanded their business into gay pornography, bathhouses, and leather bars.

Now, again, that was cited in The Daily Beast, and I feel like you can't necessarily always trust that because they're a bit of a tabloid, but something to think about.

Anyway, going through this little history lesson, you can really see that this relationship between the Mafia and the LGBTQ+ community was, dare I say, mutually beneficial.

I mean, the Mafia had these gay bars operating as private bottle clubs where they could avoid police detection and conduct business.

And even though it wasn't an ideal situation, gay men had a safer option when it came to going out to gay bars.

So, even if they didn't like what was going on, they were somewhat protected because of the Mafia's ownership of these bars.

However, while it may be mutually beneficial, and again, I feel that term is very loose here, it certainly wasn't equally beneficial since the LGBTQ+ community was still being taken advantage of by the mob.

And I know we've touched upon Stonewall in some past episodes, but we haven't covered Stonewall Riots as a movement fully.

But I think it's important to note that there's so many pieces and layers to this. So, I like that we've been approaching these topics separately before diving fully into Stonewall because again, there's just so much there.

And I think it's important to peel back the layers individually to see some of the various aspects that contributed to this momentous movement. And truthfully, the Mafia element really surprised me.

I think most of us gays have heard the top-line story, but really, the Mafia element was something completely new to me, and I feel like not a lot of gay men know that.

So, I think it's important that we be mindful of the other history components here. And it's definitely something that wasn't taught to us in history class.

I mean, all through high school. I don't think I ever learned anything about Stonewall.

But I certainly, even as a gay man, being out for, you know, almost eight years now, certainly did not know any of the Mafia involvement in this.

So hopefully, you know, you might have learned something too from this.

LGBTQ+ Slurs with Mafia Roots (17:11)

And just to round out the episode, this isn't really tied to the history of the Mafia owning gay bars, but just when I started researching this episode, I did a simple Google search for gay Mafia.

And it didn't pull up results about the Mafia's involvement with Stonewall Inn and other gay bars. Instead, it pulled up the fact that there are quite a few anti-LGBTQ+ slurs tied to Mafia terms.

So just thought for shits and gigs, we'd go through this quickly. And the majority of these definitions come from Urban Dictionary.

So, starting off, we have homintern, and this term is used to describe the homosexual elite who control the art world. It's a play on the word Comintern, which was short for Communist International.

And it was actually used by politicians in the 1950s who were trying to link homosexuals and communism. And that is a topic for a different day.

If you're interested to learn more about that, definitely recommend The Deviant's War by Dr. Eric Cervini. Very eye-opening, very enlightening.

Next, we have Gaystapo, used for militant homosexual activists who use lawyers instead of thugs to get their way.

Next, we have Gay Mafia, which is an informal grouping of rich, powerful gays and lesbians in Hollywood who all seem to know each other.

And this term was popularized in the '80s and '90s, and it was originally used to refer to quote-unquote the sinister dominance by gay men.

And in 2014, Adam Carolla, who apparently is a radio personality and some kind of celebrity, never heard of him, so he can't be that big. He claimed that the Gay Mafia is real after he came under fire for past anti-LGBTQ+ remarks.

And he said, "If you can't work with gay people, you're gonna have a difficult time in Hollywood." And to that, I say damn straight. So, get the fuck used to it.

And lastly, we have Lavender Mafia. And this occasionally refers to informal networks of gay executives in the US entertainment industry, but more frequently, it refers to church politics, specifically factions of church leadership within the Roman Catholic Church, who advocate for the acceptance of homosexuality within the church.

So again, not really tied to our little history lesson on the Mafia and their ownership of gay bars, but just thought it might be fun to tie that in.

Episode Closing (19:13)

So, there you have it. And as we wrap this up, let's go back to our tarot for the episode. Ace of Pentacles in reverse.

Again, typically tied to finances, which obviously the Mafia was making good money off of us.

But speaking more generally, like we said, it can indicate that you're working towards a goal and not being successful, and you're experiencing delays and challenges.

And perhaps you're trying to take the same path constantly and failing and not reaching that goal. So, if the same path is not working for you, we need to change things up.

And for me, after finishing up this history lesson, I think we can see that, you know, for a long time, gay men were pseudo-protected by the Mafia in gay-owned bars.

So, it wasn't ideal, but it was kind of status quo for them to get by at the moment. But obviously, by just going with the flow, they were not getting the acceptance they needed.

Their voices weren't heard, and they were still at risk because they were being extorted by the Mafia. So, did they keep up the status quo? No.

When the police raid happened at Stonewall that night in 1969, they rebelled. They rioted. And following that, that inspired others to take action, to speak out against Mafia management of gay bars.

And I mean, think of how scary that must have been, because one you're speaking as a gay man in the 1960s, which is a huge taboo. So, your voice tends to be kind of muted by society.

But then, on top of that, you're using that quote-unquote muted voice to speak out against the Mafia, who had such a hold on gay nightlife in New York City during that time.

So, it's scary, but it was a new path forward. And again, you know, we didn't see the change overnight.

Obviously, Mafia management of gay bars continued into the 80s, but you can see the progression, the steps that were taken after Stonewall, and the years to follow.

Again, we're not necessarily going to make big changes overnight, but we need to keep our eyes open and our minds unclouded to be open to new paths and new opportunities that can lead us to make a big change in the long term.

So, as we come to the end of this episode, whether it's for yourself personally, or whether you're looking to, you know, speak up for the LGBTQ+ community and getting involved in some way, just kind of take a moment to reflect.

See what goals you're working towards, what you're hoping to achieve, and the paths you've been taking to get there. And have you been taking the same path repeatedly and not getting the results you want?

And if so, maybe you could take a moment to look around and be open to new opportunities, even if that requires assistance from somebody to take a new avenue forward so you can achieve those goals.

And with that, we're wrapping up today's episode.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (21:27)

So, thank you once again for listening. As always, please remember to rate, review, and subscribe.

You can follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @ajadedgaypod. You can also follow me, Rob Loveless, on Instagram @rob_loveless or on Twitter @robjloveless.

Also, you can email me rob@jadedgay.com. Please feel free to send me your feedback, any questions you might have, any episode topics you want covered in the future. I would love to hear from you.

And remember, every day is all we have, so you got to make your own happiness.

Mmm-bye.

Outtake (22:23)

Now, this brings us to the Geneva, wait, Genovese? Genovese? Genovese?

Now I sound like my family from North Jersey trying to be more Italian. Genovese. Mozzarella.

Genovese, Genovese, Genovese. Okay.