Portland vice scandal
Encyclopedia
The Portland vice scandal (sometimes called the vice clique scandal, the vice crusade in contemporary reports, or inaccurately the YMCA scandal) refers to the discovery in November 1912 of a gay male subculture in the U.S.
city of Portland
, Oregon
, following the arrest and interrogation of nineteen-year-old Benjamin Trout for shoplifting. Trout told his interrogators that "he had been 'corrupted' by a number of men in town."
This revelation prompted police investigations and led to the arrest of "dozens of men and youths for crimes ranging from so-called indecent acts to sodomy
."
The press used the term "vice clique" to refer to these men collectively.
Some members of the vice clique were prominent public figures, including some lawyers and physicians. Some lived at the local YMCA
, which had the ninth largest membership of all YMCAs in North America,
and which was supported by members of Portland's upper class. This prompted attacks against the YMCA, its sponsors, and the city's upper class, especially by the working-class newspaper The Portland News and its editor Dana Sleeth. The Y was later cleared of any wrongdoing, and the News was forced to retract its accusations against the Y.
Walter Lafferty
, Portland's U.S. Representative
, vowed to bring the scandal to Washington's attention, though his efforts were short-lived.
The Oregon state legislature
responded to the scandal by clarifying and strengthening the state's sodomy law, and by making sodomy punishable by sterilization. The sterilization measure was subjected to a referendum, and Oregon voters repealed the law by a vote of 56 percent.
The Oregon Supreme Court
reversed the convictions of some vice clique members on legal technicalities.
not less than one year nor more than five years." Up to this point, in some U.S. state
s with sodomy laws similar to Oregon's, courts had ruled that these statutes covered anal sex
, but not oral sex
. These cases cited the 1817 English
case Rex v. Jacobs, Russ & Ry 331.
activist, leader in the state Democratic Party
, and friend of William Simon U'Ren and C.E.S. Wood
.
During his trial, The Morning Oregonian
would report that he was charged with committing an "immoral act."
According to the written opinion in State v. McAllister, 67 Or 480, 136 P 354, McAllister was charged with committing sodomy with Roy Kadel on in McAllister's law office in downtown Portland. The indictment merely stated that his charge was "commit[ting] the crime against nature," which was "too well understood and too disgusting to be herein more fully set forth." But Oregon Supreme Court justice Charles McNary
, in his dissent in McAllister, shed more light on the matter:
A warrant for McAllister's arrest was issued . According to a contemporary news report in The Morning Oregonian, he was in Marshfield (now called Coos Bay
) on that day, "taking depositions in a legal case." Furthermore, he "was incensed when he heard the nature of the charge that had been lodged against him" and professed his innocence.
He promised to return to Portland to face charges, but on , he was arrested on a southbound train at the Medford
train station, near the California
state line. He denied his identity, but several people in Medford recognized him. He claimed he was headed to Ashland
to meet with his law partner, but "authorities believe[d] he was trying to leave the state."
In McAllister's trial, Judge John P. Kavanaugh permitted testimony of acts of sodomy allegedly committed by McAllister with people other than Kadel, "for the purpose of showing mental disposition and casting light on the probability of the committal of the act actually charged." The defense argued that this infringed upon McAllister's constitutional rights.
In charging the jury, Kavanaugh gave the following instruction:
The defense would later argue on appeal, successfully, that Kavanaugh made a prejudicial error in giving his personal opinion to the jury rather than stating only matters of law.
McAllister made a closing argument for the defense on his own behalf wherein "he charged that he [was] the victim of a conspiracy."
On , the jury convicted him, but recommended "leniency in punishment."
On , he was sentenced to one to five years in the state penitentiary, the standard sentence called for by statute. Notice of appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court
was immediately filed.
responded to the scandal by amending the state's sodomy law via House Bill 145 (1913). The law was clarified and broadened to include "any act or practice of sexual perversity," including fellatio
. At the time, courts had previously ruled that sodomy laws similar to Oregon's did not cover oral sex, and it was believed that convictions based on oral rather than anal sex acts might be reversed. Also under H.B. 145, the maximum sentence for sodomy in the state penitentiary
was tripled, from five years to fifteen.
As urged by Governor
Oswald West
, the legislature also passed H.B. 69 (1913), a law to authorize sterilization of "sexual perverts" and "moral degenerates,"
which were defined as "those addicted to the practice of sodomy or the crime against nature, or to other gross, bestial and perverted sexual habits and practices prohibited by statute."
People opposed to sterilization, including Catholic clergymen and reformers such as William Simon U'Ren, formed the Anti-Sterilization League and successfully forced a referendum on this legislation. Oregon voters repealed it by a vote of 56 percent to 44 in November 1913. However, the legislature passed a similar law in 1917.
The Oregon Supreme Court
reversed Start's conviction in State v. Start, 65 Or 178, 132 P 512 (1913), finding that the trial judge had allowed extraneous testimony that possibly prejudiced the jury. Wedemeyer's and McAllister's convictions were reversed on the same grounds.
Notably, these convictions were not reversed on the basis that oral sex was not covered under Oregon's sodomy law, as the legislature feared the court might rule. In fact, despite legislation previous to Start ensuring that fellatio counted as a "crime against nature," the court ruled that this was necessarily true because, among other reasons, the mouth and anus are both openings of the alimentary canal and therefore equally unsuited to sexual intercourse.
Justice Charles McNary
, a future U.S. Senator
, was a new court justice by the time McAllister's appeal was heard. McNary wrote the dissent for McAllister's case, which was emotionally charged and "revealed a deeply seated personal discomfort with same-sex eroticism."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
city of Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, following the arrest and interrogation of nineteen-year-old Benjamin Trout for shoplifting. Trout told his interrogators that "he had been 'corrupted' by a number of men in town."
This revelation prompted police investigations and led to the arrest of "dozens of men and youths for crimes ranging from so-called indecent acts to sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
."
The press used the term "vice clique" to refer to these men collectively.
Some members of the vice clique were prominent public figures, including some lawyers and physicians. Some lived at the local YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, which had the ninth largest membership of all YMCAs in North America,
and which was supported by members of Portland's upper class. This prompted attacks against the YMCA, its sponsors, and the city's upper class, especially by the working-class newspaper The Portland News and its editor Dana Sleeth. The Y was later cleared of any wrongdoing, and the News was forced to retract its accusations against the Y.
Walter Lafferty
Walter Lafferty
Abraham Walter Lafferty was a U.S. Representative from the state of Oregon. Lafferty spent the majority of his career both as a legislator and as an attorney attempting to have millions of acres of land previously owned by the Oregon and California Railroad come under Oregon state control, rather...
, Portland's U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, vowed to bring the scandal to Washington's attention, though his efforts were short-lived.
The Oregon state legislature
Oregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...
responded to the scandal by clarifying and strengthening the state's sodomy law, and by making sodomy punishable by sterilization. The sterilization measure was subjected to a referendum, and Oregon voters repealed the law by a vote of 56 percent.
The Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
reversed the convictions of some vice clique members on legal technicalities.
Background
At the time the scandal broke, Oregon's sodomy law merely said, "If any person shall commit sodomy or the crime against nature, either with mankind or beast, such person, upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiaryOregon State Penitentiary
Oregon State Penitentiary , the first state prison in Oregon, United States, was originally located in Portland in 1851. In 1866 it was moved to a site in Salem and enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging in height...
not less than one year nor more than five years." Up to this point, in some U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s with sodomy laws similar to Oregon's, courts had ruled that these statutes covered anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
, but not oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
. These cases cited the 1817 English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
case Rex v. Jacobs, Russ & Ry 331.
Edward McAllister
One of the most prominent members of the vice clique was Edward Stonewall Jackson McAllister, a Portland attorney, ProgressiveProgressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
activist, leader in the state Democratic Party
Democratic Party of Oregon
The Democratic Party of Oregon, based in Portland, is the official Oregon affiliate of the United States Democratic Party. It is recognized by the state of Oregon as a major political party, along with the Oregon Republican Party...
, and friend of William Simon U'Ren and C.E.S. Wood
Charles Erskine Scott Wood
Charles Erskine Scott Wood was an author, civil libertarian, soldier, and attorney. He is best known as the author of the 1927 satirical bestseller, Heavenly Discourse.-Early life:...
.
During his trial, The Morning Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
would report that he was charged with committing an "immoral act."
According to the written opinion in State v. McAllister, 67 Or 480, 136 P 354, McAllister was charged with committing sodomy with Roy Kadel on in McAllister's law office in downtown Portland. The indictment merely stated that his charge was "commit[ting] the crime against nature," which was "too well understood and too disgusting to be herein more fully set forth." But Oregon Supreme Court justice Charles McNary
Charles L. McNary
Charles Linza McNary was a United States Republican politician from Oregon. He served in the Senate from 1917 to 1944, and was Senate Minority Leader from 1933 to 1944. In the Senate, McNary helped to pass legislation that led to the construction of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, and worked...
, in his dissent in McAllister, shed more light on the matter:
A warrant for McAllister's arrest was issued . According to a contemporary news report in The Morning Oregonian, he was in Marshfield (now called Coos Bay
Coos Bay, Oregon
Coos Bay is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one entity called either Coos Bay-North Bend or the Bay Area...
) on that day, "taking depositions in a legal case." Furthermore, he "was incensed when he heard the nature of the charge that had been lodged against him" and professed his innocence.
He promised to return to Portland to face charges, but on , he was arrested on a southbound train at the Medford
Medford, Oregon
Medford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the city had a total population of 74,907 and a metropolitan area population of 207,010, making the Medford MSA the 4th largest metro area in Oregon...
train station, near the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
state line. He denied his identity, but several people in Medford recognized him. He claimed he was headed to Ashland
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, near Interstate 5 and the California border, and located in the south end of the Rogue Valley. It was named after Ashland County, Ohio, point of origin of Abel Helman and other founders, and secondarily for Ashland, Kentucky, where other...
to meet with his law partner, but "authorities believe[d] he was trying to leave the state."
In McAllister's trial, Judge John P. Kavanaugh permitted testimony of acts of sodomy allegedly committed by McAllister with people other than Kadel, "for the purpose of showing mental disposition and casting light on the probability of the committal of the act actually charged." The defense argued that this infringed upon McAllister's constitutional rights.
In charging the jury, Kavanaugh gave the following instruction:
The defense would later argue on appeal, successfully, that Kavanaugh made a prejudicial error in giving his personal opinion to the jury rather than stating only matters of law.
McAllister made a closing argument for the defense on his own behalf wherein "he charged that he [was] the victim of a conspiracy."
On , the jury convicted him, but recommended "leniency in punishment."
On , he was sentenced to one to five years in the state penitentiary, the standard sentence called for by statute. Notice of appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
was immediately filed.
Legislative response
The Oregon state legislatureOregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...
responded to the scandal by amending the state's sodomy law via House Bill 145 (1913). The law was clarified and broadened to include "any act or practice of sexual perversity," including fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
. At the time, courts had previously ruled that sodomy laws similar to Oregon's did not cover oral sex, and it was believed that convictions based on oral rather than anal sex acts might be reversed. Also under H.B. 145, the maximum sentence for sodomy in the state penitentiary
Oregon State Penitentiary
Oregon State Penitentiary , the first state prison in Oregon, United States, was originally located in Portland in 1851. In 1866 it was moved to a site in Salem and enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging in height...
was tripled, from five years to fifteen.
As urged by Governor
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
Oswald West
Oswald West
Oswald West was an American politician, a Democrat, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon. Called "Os West" by Oregon writer Stewart Holbrook, who described him as "by all odds the most brilliant governor Oregon ever had."- Early life and career :West was born in Ontario, Canada...
, the legislature also passed H.B. 69 (1913), a law to authorize sterilization of "sexual perverts" and "moral degenerates,"
which were defined as "those addicted to the practice of sodomy or the crime against nature, or to other gross, bestial and perverted sexual habits and practices prohibited by statute."
People opposed to sterilization, including Catholic clergymen and reformers such as William Simon U'Ren, formed the Anti-Sterilization League and successfully forced a referendum on this legislation. Oregon voters repealed it by a vote of 56 percent to 44 in November 1913. However, the legislature passed a similar law in 1917.
Action by the Oregon Supreme Court
Three men who were sentenced to the state penitentiary appealed their convictions — physician Harry Start, clerk and bookkeeper Edward Wedemeyer, and attorney Edward McAllister.The Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
reversed Start's conviction in State v. Start, 65 Or 178, 132 P 512 (1913), finding that the trial judge had allowed extraneous testimony that possibly prejudiced the jury. Wedemeyer's and McAllister's convictions were reversed on the same grounds.
Notably, these convictions were not reversed on the basis that oral sex was not covered under Oregon's sodomy law, as the legislature feared the court might rule. In fact, despite legislation previous to Start ensuring that fellatio counted as a "crime against nature," the court ruled that this was necessarily true because, among other reasons, the mouth and anus are both openings of the alimentary canal and therefore equally unsuited to sexual intercourse.
Justice Charles McNary
Charles L. McNary
Charles Linza McNary was a United States Republican politician from Oregon. He served in the Senate from 1917 to 1944, and was Senate Minority Leader from 1933 to 1944. In the Senate, McNary helped to pass legislation that led to the construction of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, and worked...
, a future U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, was a new court justice by the time McAllister's appeal was heard. McNary wrote the dissent for McAllister's case, which was emotionally charged and "revealed a deeply seated personal discomfort with same-sex eroticism."