Vice Patrol: Cops, Courts, and the Struggle over Urban Gay Life before Stonewall

Lambda Literary Award Winner: The history of the tactics used by US law enforcement to harass and attack gay communities across the country.

In the mid-twentieth century, gay life flourished in American cities even as the state repression of queer communities reached its peak. Liquor investigators infiltrated and shut down gay-friendly bars. Plainclothes decoys enticed men in parks and clubs. Vice officers surveilled public bathrooms through peepholes and two-way mirrors.

In Vice Patrol, Anna...