In 1970, Laud Humphrey's published Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places based on his highly controversial 1968 dissertation about public sex between men in the secluded bathrooms of Saint Louis’s Forest Park. Homosexual activity was criminal, and police were not only raiding bars, but using undercover officers to entrap men engaging in public sex. Their rationale was that the men involved were predatory, forcing themselves on men who didn't welcome their advances, and a danger to children. What Humphrey’s research uncovered tore down the stereotype of the degenerate homosexual preying on the unsuspecting and revealed the interactions in the “tearooms” to be intricately choreographed- and a dance that was often performed by men who were considered pillars of the community. His unorthodox choice of subject and research methodology- his subjects were not knowing or consenting participants in his study- have made Humphreys an early queer rights hero to some and an unethical pariah to others. With the Idea Capital Funding, Lee Osorio will write a theatre piece based on the life of Laud Humphreys, his seminal work (...pun intended), and the lives of the men he observed.
Lee Osorio in Theatrical Outfit's Production of An Iliad. photographer: Casey Gardner Ford.
Book cover of Tearoom Trade
Laud Humphrey's Observation Notes.
Lee Osorio in Serenbe's Production of The Seagull, photo taken by BreeAnne Clowdus.