Working on the dissertation can be a dark, lonely task that often makes one question the life choices that have led them to such an undertaking. There are many days when I wonder if I really like history that much. But then, there are other days when I find a delightful rabbit hole to wander down that almost makes all of the previous days worth it. This is a diary on one such rabbit hole. Unfortunately for my project, this little tangent had nothing to do with my dissertation. But sometimes those are the best rabbit holes.
I've been spending a lot of time lately scanning through the entire run of This Week in Texas, which began in the mid-1970s as a gay bar rag and turned by the 1980s into a major provider of Texas gay news. I'm looking for very specific types of articles, but every now and then, something else catches my eye. This happened while I perused a 1983 issue and stumbled upon an article on the thirtieth anniversary of a police raid that occurred when a gay couple attempted to hold a marriage ceremony in Waco. It was fascinating stuff, and I had no idea Waco was the center of such a dramatic scene from LGBT history. I wasn't satisfied when I finished the article, and I kept digging. Unfortunately, it is also an event that has been all but forgotten, escaping the notice of all but those who are particularly interested in Texas gay history, so it was difficult to find more information. But one thing led to another, and I realized I needed more documents from the archive, so I requested them. Finally, I have enough to write about the 1953 "homosexual convention" raid and Tommy Gene Brown, the "Waco Bride" around which the event revolved. Follow me below the fold...
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When one thinks of dramatic events in LGBT history, the Central Texas city of Waco may not immediately jump to mind--especially Waco in 1953. The gay liberation movement would be in full force in about a decade and a half, but it would be more than two decades until gays in Houston, Texas' largest city, would fully mobilize. Texas, like the rest of the country, was not a friendly place for gays and lesbians in the 1950s, and one could only imagine what it was like in a place like Waco, home to the Baptist Baylor University. But we can be assured that gay people existed in the city, no matter how much their fellow Wacoans feared and despised them. In many ways, the extremely conservative nature of the city makes the fact that dozens of gay men attempted to stage a gay wedding in 1953 all the more incredible.
The thirtieth-anniversary article in This Week in Texas, aptly titled "Witch Hunt," begins:
A pall hangs over the gay community in Waco. Anyone displaying empathy, today, for the gay lifestyle intuitively detects an eerie sensation.
Quite by accident, the reason surfaced: 30 years ago, 66 brave souls crowded into a tiny two-room (with bath) cottage to witness a gay marriage and to attend an "interstate convention," which created such a backlash of public resentment that the gays in Waco returned to the closet and have remained barricaded ever since.
To call what occurred an "interstate convention" would be quite a stretch, but that is the language used by the Texas authorities and media, and it really underscores the homophobic paranoia that permeated the atmosphere at the time. In reality, what happened was a lot less malevolent than Wacoans, undoubtedly picturing horned homosexuals wielding pitchforks, imagined.
On April 11, 1953, 67 men--many from Dallas, 100 miles north--gathered in a small cottage on La Salle Street in South Waco. It is not clear what the primary purpose of the gathering was, but at some point, whether planned as the centerpiece of the event or not, two men attempted to hold a marriage ceremony. It was to resemble a traditional wedding, with the "bride," Tommy Gene Brown, donning drag. But vows were never exchanged. Two detectives, two vice squadmen, one Texas Ranger, and an assistant district attorney surrounded the cottage before the wedding occurred. After realizing they could not handle the raid themselves, they called for backup. In total, 17 law enforcement officers descended on the cottage to bring an end to the immorality taking place behind the walls. Police identified 66 men, arrested them, and hauled them to jail on vagrancy and narcotics charges (marijuana was also found at the scene). Bail was set at $25 each.
Some men reportedly chanted "Long live the queens!" on the way to jail.
After the initial news report on the raid, Waco buzzed about the "homosexual convention" in the city. The "underground" neighborhood newspaper the Waco Citizen satisfied Wacoans' curiosity as the only paper in the city to report on the incident. From a Citizen article days after the raid:
Considerable women's apparel was confiscated in the raid. There were at least three of the men regaled in the feminine attire. One was lodged in jail dressed in feminine garb. He managed to get some men's clothing on before being released from jail but still wore the women's slippers. The ladies attire consisted of skirts, underclothing, falsies, bras, etc. This was to have been a real wedding or attachment to each other, it was learned, to be performed by a licensed preacher. There were no girls at the party. Invitations had been sent out all over the country for the gathering which was to have been held at a previous date. It was delayed due to one of the leaders being in jail at the time.
The men came from all walks of life. Most of them have prominent jobs. At least a few of the participants are looking for employment, however, now. Some of them are college trained with degrees.
The police secured the license numbers of the cars at the convention hall and the blotter listed the states in which they were registered. [An officer] took statements from some of those in the crowd. They told of having satisfied their peculiar passion on each other.
As far as officers know, this was the first time the convention had been held in Waco. And the chances are this will be the last gathering of its kind for the city.
The article also featured a picture of Tommy Gene Brown, which must have shocked (and enthralled) many Wacoans.
The Citizen coverage, undoubtedly reacting to demand from the public, was extensive. A total of six news stories appeared detailing different aspects of the incident. The "convention" participants were also identified--10 from Waco, 45 from elsewhere in Texas, and 11 from out of state--and listed, address and all, in the paper.
Another story heaped praise on the police for rooting out the homosexual scourge of Waco:
Let us congratulate the Waco Police Department for its very efficient work in busting up this outrageous affair. It is to be regretted that Waco should have been chosen as being a habitat for criminals of various types.
Captain...of the detective force says it is the best piece of detective work that his men have handled. We agree with the captain of detectives and congratulate Chief...on having such a grand force of officers who are always alert and on their toes for criminal violators. May it always be thus in Waco.
The news did not stay in Waco--it traveled 1,400 miles to the
Los Angeles Times, where the headline proclaimed, "64 Men Held in Morals Raid in Texas."
Beyond the news stories, I also found a letter to the editor in This Week in Texas written by an anonymous man who was "accidentally" arrested in the raid:
I was present, though quite by accident, I might add.
I was a Ministerial student at Baylor University, in my final year and due to graduate in August, when this event changed my whole life.
I was in love with a medical student who was attending Baylor Medical in Houston. He was invited and came to Waco to attend the party given by another Ministerial student of Baylor. I was afraid to go to the party because of my Ministerial enrollment in Baylor, so I drove him to the house and we set a certain time that I was to return to pick him up.
When he returned to the cottage, a Texas Ranger greeted him. He arrived just when the raid began.
Needless to say, I was taken in the paddy wagon with all of those who did not escape (and a number did escape), to the Waco jail--my first and I hope my last such experience. I was sure that my world had come to an end with the arrest of "vagrancy" (which was supposed to mean in those days that you did not have $25 in your pocket at the time of the arrest--and I didn't).
[...]
To add to my frustration, the guy I was in love with, who was from a rather wealthy family, had a large sum of money with him and did not even pay my $25 bail and left the jail without me. I never saw him after that night.
Baylor kicked him out, and he had to go home to tell his mother and pastor why he would not graduate. He was later accepted at another Baptist school, after which he went to a Baptist seminary, and at the time of his letter he was a pastor at a Metropolitan Community Church.
It is unknown how many other lives were ruined or put on hold because of the anti-gay raid. What Wacoans viewed as a curious spectacle was incredibly destructive to those men caught in the crosshairs of the Waco Police Department.
You might be wondering what happened to Tommy Gene Brown, the Waco Bride. Well, you aren't the only one. Dallas LGBT community leader and historian Phil Johnson did some investigative reporting and published a followup in a 1989 issue of This Week in Texas:
As for Tommy Gene, she held her head up high and went on to live a productive, colorful life.
In 1959, Tommy Gene and her lover Fred--whom she met in Dallas--left Texas for San Francisco where they lived happily forever after. Fred worked and Tommy Gene kept house. That's the way Fred and Tommy Gene wanted it.
In San Francisco, Tommy Gene became involved in one of America's first gay organizations, the Society for Individual Rights (SIR).
Here she helped with the dances and costumes for gay productions of "The Boy Friend," "Pal Joey," "Hello, Dolly!" and "The Wizard of Oz." As a child, Tommy Gene's favorite fantasy was to be like Shirley Temple, so friends at SIR called her Shirley, and the name stuck.
Under the
Imperial Court System, Shirley won the title of "Empress III Shirley," after which she refused to appear in public without drag. She died in 1989. From her obituary:
Tommy Gene Brown will be remembered as a gentle, home-loving, helpful, and proper man who cared a great deal for our community, but created a caustic attitude so the public would not catch on to his deep-felt feeling for our community.
Good on the "Waco Bride" and the 66 others who challenged Waco norms in the face of such hostility over 60 years ago. Now, on to the tops...
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