slytherpuffsquirrel:

thunderboltsortofapenny:

fozmeadows:

indigostohelit:

so today i learned that in the late 1800s-early 1900s, the navy became concerned about possible homosexual activity among their sailors

so they sent in decoys, whose job was to pretend to want to engage in homosexual activity in order to find gay sailors

except then the job of the decoy got popular

like, really popular

like… worryingly popular?

reports said that the decoys were performing their jobs with “much enthusiasm and zeal”

eventually the navy decided. to. just stop.

Reblogging because I’ve found a source to support this, quoted below (my bolding for emphasis):

“The ex-detective from Connecticut who boasted that he could pick out the “cruising” fairies on Manhattan’s Riverside Drive with 90 percent accuracy–not a challenging task, given the blatant style of the area–convinced his superiors that an undercover operation was the only way to secure evidence that would stand up in court. Accordingly, he quietly enlisted a staff of Navy investigators “in the capacity of detectives” who would circulate among the suspected population of perverts at the YMCA or elsewhere, strike up friendships, and take careful note of all that transpired. He wanted no one over thirty, he said, on the well-known assumption that homosexuals never bothered with men that old. His ideal volunteer was in his late teens or early twenties, handsome, none too intellectually inclined (to judge by their later testimony in court), and willing to put himself in awkward situations for the good of the service. He found an ample number to take on the assignment, more than a dozen at first, and sought assurances that his men, if forced to break the law–that is, go the limit to complete their mission–would not themselves be subject to prosecution.

    The specific duties the recruits were charged with fell into three areas: to gather information about “cocaine joints” and the sale of liquor; to gather information “pertaining to cocksuckers and rectum receivers” and any network of “said fairies”; and to gather information about prostitutes in the area. In reality, once their project hit its stride, Arnold’s band of investigators showed no interest to speak of in the “fallen women” of Newport and only minimal concern with the illegal drug traffic. What went on behind closed doors at the YMCA or in the romantic shadows of Cliff Walk was another matter. In their pursuit of the “cocksuckers” Arnold had charged them to find–and in the fairly staggering amount of oral sex they enjoyed in the line of duty–this group of young men was all but tireless. In fact, their assiduous performance was to become by the end of the summer a profound humiliation to the Department of the Navy and its leadership.“

– The Other Side of Silence, by John Loughery; Chapter One, 1: A Scandal in Newport

The Dollop did an episode on this and it’s equal parts terrifying, hysterical and insane

That reminds me of this:

In the early 1980s, the Naval Investigative Service was investigating homosexuality in the Chicago area. Agents discovered that gay men sometimes referred to themselves as “friends of Dorothy.” Unaware of the historical meaning of the term, the NIS believed that there actually was a woman named Dorothy at the center of a massive ring of homosexual military personnel, so they launched an enormous and futile hunt for the elusive “Dorothy,” hoping to find her and convince her to reveal the names of gay service members.