Reply #5: Good Point [View All]

[derzauberberg]

ReadMoreOften, you do make a good point. And from my research of organized crime control of gay bars, I do want to highlight that the West Coast -- Cali, OR, and WA -- historically have not had Mafia influence in the gay bars even at a time, and in Texas the Mafia has not historically been involved in gay bars. However, in cities where the Mafia traditionally has been strong -- such as NY, Chicago, Kansas City, Rochester (NY), Boston -- unfortunately organized crime has exploited the gay community both pre- and post-Stonewall Inn.

Moreover, you make a good point, too, that not all gay bars in cities such as Chicago and NY are controlled by the mob. Indeed, not all pizza parlors in NY are controlled by the Mafia notwithstanding that famous "pizza connection" case in NY in the mid-1980s where the mob was using pizza shops as fronts for heroin trafficking. However, some gay bars are controlled by the Mafia, and some pizza shops are controlled by the Mafia.

However, there no doubt is mob control of some gay bars in some American cities, and this is not a function of the queer community being linked to the Mafia but of the Mafia exploiting us just as it exploits many other groups. My point in raising the issue is that many gay men have been victimized by the mob, and four decades after the Stonewall Riots we no longer should have to put up with its shit.