An Early Look at Gays; Lakers Head for Playoffs, March 24, 1969

The nondupe features "the large colony of acknowledged homosexuals in this city."

"The men who find themselves under the pressure of secrecy often seek homosexual relationships on a compulsive basis -- cruising gay bars, the bus station or certain streets known to be hangouts. This often brings them into conflict with the law." "As for the future of homosexuality, society needs to become more tolerant, according to Dr. [Judd] Marmor [of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center]. At the same time, research into the prevention of homosexuality should be undertaken, he added.

The Lakers finished the regular season with their best record in franchise history and felt like celebrating. The Lakers defeated the New York Knicks, 128-111, at the Forum and were headed for the playoffs against the San Francisco Warriors. But they were already talking about potential opponents in the NBA finals. Jerry West made news the following day at a weekly sportswriters' luncheon by dismissing the Boston Celtics' chances. "They're not a good scoring club anymore," West said. "If they don't get a good scoring game out of Bailey Howell, they're in trouble." Somewhere in Boston, a bulletin board just got another clipping. --Keith Thursby

Comments

[Scott]

Thank you for publishing the article on gays. It was quite a fascinating read from a historical standpoint, and just before Stonewall. Although I was only a small child in 1969, the feel I get from the article is that it likely painted a fairly accurate picture of the life of an average gay person in LA at that time, despite going in directions that today would be considered completely absurd (not that this is not to be expected in an article of this nature at the time).

I actually find it impressive that it appeared at that time in a major mainstream newspaper, even in Los Angeles. That last paragraph is just so over the top by today's standards, it's a gem, and made me chuckle to be sure! Good luck with that one!