Historical Treatment of Gay Sex Workers
By: Jamie Grace Alexander
Tags: Sex Work, History, Newspapers, LGBT, Gay

A 1932 account from the Afro-American describes an arrest of a sex worker in Druid Hill park. Park police happened onto a parked taxi cab by the duck pond, inside they found Princeton Royal, 29, & the taxi driver “surprised in the act of engaging in an unnatural petting party”.

Adapted from a Baltimore Gay Paper cartoon, a woman sits at the bar with a client. Behind her, are statements taken from the paper that are both about and by sex workers.

Royal testified that the cab had picked him up at Pressman & Madison nearby & that he had instructed the driver to take him to the park for fresh air. When the magistrate asked the Royal to respond to the fact that the police had caught him in such a compromising situation, he remarked, flippantly, “Well, this is the first time I’ve been caught this year.” This indicates that sex workers like Princeton were accustomed to regular interaction with the police.

When a fine was announced for both parties, Royal turned to three effeminate male spectators in the courtroom & said: “Sisters of the clan, I need money.” The four were able to pool the $25 necessary to avoid jail time, something that the cab driver was unable to do. Notably, a black homosexual community of sex workers operated so effectively that it superseded racial and class differences that might have otherwise caused Princeton Royal to be imprisoned and the white taxi driver to be released. This case proves street-based &/or full-service queer sex workers have been able to reduce harm through community for nearly a century.

A headline that reads “The Art Museum Drive Incident” details the wrongful arrest of another gay person outside a public park in 1981. The letter is written by the arrestee's attorney, & follows that the unnamed gay person went walking on the street by Wyman Park, Art Museum Drive after trying to go to the community center & discovering it was closed for the night. The individual was propositioned for sex by an undercover police officer who arrested him, despite his refusal. Because the sting was unsuccessful, the individual was charged with “Violation of Park Rule 50, park curfew”

These charges were successfully cleared in court because he was just outside of the park, but it was clear that this arrest was targeted not at park curfew violators but gay sex workers who used the park for cruising. The dismissal of this case on such arbitrary bounds elaborates that criminalization can occur for any reason. Indeed, at least 62 people were arrested that hot summer weekend for similar incidental charges.

This was a part of a targeted “clean-up” effort emboldened by a city ordinance that prevented loitering in all public places. Passed in the city council in 1979, Ordinance 1195 contained deliberate vague wording that police used to expand their power & control over the streets.

Baltimore City Police used this new city ordinance to mass arrest street-based sex workers, many of whom were black & transgender. The MDACLU challenged this new law as it unconstitutionally infringed on the right to assembly. These loitering cases were less about blocking walkways & more about who has access to public space. During the ACLU’s defense, which focused heavily on the discriminatory intent of police officers, two defendants were found guilty & two were acquitted; essentially resulting in an inconclusive ruling. However, reported incidents decrease in the months following the defeat.

The following year, 1982, the Baltimore Gay Alliance publically replied to a letter from Democratic candidate Kurt Shmoke, who was then running for State’s Attorney, urging him to consider decriminalizing sex work. In his letter, he stated concern over the solicitation of male sex workers in the Patterson Park/Eastern Avenue area who he referred to as “young boys”. The BGA was quick to call out that his perspective reflected a mentality that sex workers are victims & that gay people are pedophiles. At the time it was radical to have such a political candidate taking part in any conversation with LGBT community & the BGA doubled down on their activist roots by challenging their new supporter. This letter shows that the decriminalization of sex work has been a goal of gay activists for more than 38 years.