‘A tsunami of homophobia.’ How Long Beach public restrooms were once ‘ground zero’ for sex stings

Every protest movement or significant historical undertaking had a moment that started at a public bathroom door.

That’s the claim made by Temple University professor Bryant Simon, who spoke with Essential California this week about his latest book, “For Customers Only: Public Bathrooms and the Making of American Inequality.”

Simon, a onetime postdoctoral fellow at Caltech, pointed to connections between public restrooms and civil rights, the farm labor movement — then and now — and trans debates.

One such local front was the war the city of Long Beach waged against homosexuality more than a hundred years ago and, in particular, sex in public bathrooms.

Let’s dive into some excerpts from his book, which is available for preorder.

Behaving in society

Simon’s chapter entitled “Misbehaving” spoke of “scripts,” or behaviors the general public developed coming out of the Gilded Age. One routine that created apprehension among the general public was visiting public restrooms, Simon wrote.

“Once bodies were sorted at the bathroom door, they were expected to move through the space quickly and anonymously,” Simon wrote.

Bathrooms offered gay men a public space to meet and have anonymous sexual contact, Simon wrote.

More than a century ago, public bathrooms initially were welcomed in Long Beach. The “bright white sinks and fancy flush toilets” showcased the International City as “more settled, civilized and appealing to others with money to invest,” Simon wrote.

That image took a hit in the spring of 1914 when an undercover sting netted 31 men on suspicion of social vagrancy, L.A. Times clippings from the era read.

“A few dressed in silk kimonos and one with no clothes on at all,” Simon wrote, and the arrests led to “a tsunami of homophobia” in Long Beach.

Enter Long Beach’s vice patrol

The sting operation involved two handsome failed actors, B.C. Brown and H.W. Warren, who were hired as vice officers to spearhead the “purity campaign.” Public restrooms served as the battle’s “ground zero,” Simon wrote.

The men lingered outside restrooms, “[spicing] up their outfits with a lapel flower and pastel shirt” with the goal of entrapping public fornicators.

The undercover officers followed men who dressed similarly to them, or “walked with a swish in their step.”

The officers would strike up a conversation with a potential suspect, perhaps pass a note or even make “explicit” comments. They then would attempt to lead the suspect into a bathroom stall and await a suggestive act. If the suspect showed the officers his genitals, they would stamp them with “an indelible marker” that led to instant arrests.

Vice arrests led to big fines

The vice business boomed as Brown and Warren were paid $10 per arrest, with the officers racking up as much as $150 a day, according to Simon.

In 2026 dollars, that’s about $334 per arrest with a peak of $5,000 per day.

That original 1914 undercover sting resulted in combined fines totaling $5,275 in that day’s money from the 31 men. Those accused became social outcasts, leading to eviction notices from landlords, pink slips, club membership revocation and divorces.

Scottish immigrant Josh Lamb even committed suicide, ingesting cyanide, after seeing his name in the newspaper.

Gay rights activists provide a twist

When the gay rights movement reached Long Beach in the late 1960s, activists “called for equal rights, an end to discrimination, and the opening of the closet door,” Simon wrote.

They also pushed back at the police department’s long-running bathroom entrapment efforts. In a twist, though, activists self-policed the bathrooms and called for a “strategic end to public sex.”

One gay rights group implored the city to close the public bathrooms at night, even offering to send gay community members to “shoo sex seekers from public bathrooms,” Simon wrote.

Bathrooms became forgotten

In the end, neither the police nor gay activists completely ended public sex in restrooms.

Police raids eventually moved to bars with rainbow flags and drag shows, taking the focus off bathrooms and eventually relegating them to a forgotten state.

The week’s biggest stories

( Friends of Big Bear Valley)

Animal and pet sagas

• Big Bear celebrity eagle Shadow has been seen with a new eagle at the nest.
• Hours after celebrity bald eagle Jackie’s death was announced Monday, a new beaked face showed up.
• A Ventura County dog named Bruce, accused of four attacks, is euthanized.
• The injured mountain lion found in a San Dimas neighborhood was euthanized.

State of the economy

• Here’s why it soon could be harder to see the full price of a plane ticket.
• The Department of Transportation proposed new regulations that allow airlines to highlight fares without components such as taxes.
• Twist cap maker G3 Enterprises announces layoffs as California’s wine industry struggles.
• Opinion: Ordinary Americans are struggling to fund their 401(k) plans while plutocrats fill theirs with tax-free millions.

Health and healthcare

• Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO.
• The 28-year-old from a wealthy Maryland family faces potential life sentences as courts weigh double jeopardy claims.
• Why we’ve become so suspicious of people who lose weight.
• Summer is now California’s COVID busy season.

Trump administration

• An immigration court ruling narrows pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients.
• The ruling concerns how recipients of DACA may travel abroad and their ability to obtain green cards.
• The wife of a U.S. soldier is removed from a deportation flight and released from federal immigration custody.
• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will step down at the end of the month.
• Charges have been dropped for a man arrested with loaded guns at a SoCal Trump rally.

More news

• The LAX people mover is 99% done, but uncertainty mounts near deadline.
• The man who killed rapper Pop Smoke got caught smuggling fentanyl into juvenile hall.
• A mysterious 150-pound statue was found buried in a San Francisco backyard.
• A UC Santa Cruz student died after her vehicle plunged off a cliff. Another person survived.
• Destination Crenshaw makeover project moves forward after a local outcry because of it stalling.
• California’s bid to outlaw ‘glow-in-the-dark rabbits’ and ‘unicorn horses’ through experimentation fails.
• A ‘super’ El Niño is super likely, leaving California bracing for impact.

Editor’s pick

California

The loneliest phone booth in the world

In the middle of the Mojave stands a phone booth. There’s no reason to call--except to make a connection.

Sept. 18, 1999

More picks

• An oil company wants to restart fracking off the California coast, battling the state’s top coastal officials.
• With Puerto Rico’s water crisis, climate change meets ineptitude.
• Disneyland is at a crossroads. New documentary ‘Worldbuilders’ hints at what’s next.
• ‘Ready to show who I am’: Ty Simpson embracing the pressure of his first Rams test.
• Opinion: SAT scores are another way UC schools are closing their doors to diversity.
• Opinion: The racism in America’s rearview mirror is closer than it appears.

Things to do

• 🌯From East L.A. to Long Beach, check out 16 of L.A.’s best breakfast burritos.
• 📺 Watch superheroes soar through a grounded detective story in HBO’s “Lanterns.”
• 💃Superstar artist Karol G’s new album may just have you crying at the club.

Today’s recipe

(Flavio Morais / For The Times)

Chef Michael Roberts wrote of his version of birria, the Mexican goat stew. “If you’ve never tasted goat before, this is the perfect introduction to this full-flavored meat. The best way to eat the goat is wrapped in a tortilla with salsa, beans and rice. You can buy one can or jar of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce to get the sauce and the chiles you need for the dish.”

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Jack Dolan, investigative reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Shi Bradley, audience intern

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