United States LGBT History for 1912
State equality and discrimination bills
Oregon
The “Vice Clique Scandal” breaks in Portland (frequently erroneously called the “YMCA Scandal.”) After a general vice investigation in the city, 68 men are involved including a few who have some prominence in the city. The Oregon Journal coins the term “vice clique” to refer to the men, and two of the three other dailies begin using it regularly to refer to them as well. Six trials are held, and four other men plead guilty to charges involving private, consensual sexual activity. Three convicted men appeal their convictions, and all are freed by the Oregon Supreme Court.
A vaudevillian named Frank Gumm moves to Portland and manages the Crystal Theater in North Portland. He amazingly tried to live as openly Gay wherever he lived, but as a result frequently was forced to relocate. He obviously planned to stay in Portland, because he registered to vote and helped organize a “screen club.” However, in the fall of 1913, some unknown “something” happened in Portland that made him give up living openly. He left town and returned to Wisconsin, where he proposed marriage to a woman who had pursued him unsuccessfully. They married and had three daughters, all of whom showed musical talent. His youngest daughter, Frances, showed the greatest talent of all.
Nell Pickerell, passing herself as Harry E. Allen, is arrested in Portland on a Mann Act (white slavery) charge. When it is learned that she is a woman dressed as a man, the charge is dropped, but she is prosecuted for vagrancy. Traveling with her is Isabelle Maxwell, whom Pickerell claimed to have married. Lesbian physician Marie Equi visits with Pickerell. Portland policewoman Lola Baldwin comments harshly on Pickerell and Maxwell in her official records.
Following the breaking of the “Vice Clique Scandal” in Portland, Oregon Congressman A. W. Lafferty pledges to have Congress investigate homosexuality on a nationwide basis. Nothing comes of his pledge and two Oregon newspapers ridicule his proposal as a mere cover for his own well known sexual interest in underage females. However, naming the Portland Scandal specifically, the U.S. Justice Department orders its agents throughout the country to turn over whatever information it has on “vice conditions” in various cities to local officials.
Five young Gay men, including one couple, out for a night time drive in what is now Lake Oswego, are accosted by a robber on the highway. Two of the men, including one of the couple, are killed by the robber, and two others are injured. During the trial of the perpetrator, the surviving half of the couple is trapped by a defense attorney into acknowledging that he and one of the deceased men were sitting intertwined on the back seat.
English military hero and Boy Scouts founder Robert Baden Powell makes an appearance in Portland but is met by a huge, hostile crowd holding what newspapers call “ribald” banners mocking his quotes about Boy Scouts. Newspapers note he is accompanied by an entourage of “young men” and later in the year a local paper formally outs him to Portland readers.
President William H. Taft
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