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Fort Collins "gives thanks" to have avoided Oscar Wilde (1882)
The Fort Collins Daily Express pithily shared with its readers that, in its estimation, the city was thankful to have not hosted Oscar Wilde during his lecture tour of Colorado and the United States in 1882.
Loveland Reporter on Oscar Wilde as Horticulturalist (1892)
The Loveland Reporter notes Oscar Wilde's development of a new flower.
Act amending "crimes against nature" laws in the Colorado Criminal Code (1939)
A 1939 revision to the original "crimes against nature" law in the State of Colorado. The law specified in greater detail the crime, including reference to "copulation per anus or os." It also revised down the penalty to at least one but no more than…
Act Concerning Offenses Against Public Morality added to the Colorado Criminal Code (1885)
The full text of the first obscenity law passed in Colorado in 1885. The law became a powerful tool for restricting the distribution of information about obscene subjects (like homosexuality), in addition to placing strict limits on objects with a…
Greeley Tribune: Laramie a "gem of the Rockies" or Sodom? (1887)
An article on the boomtown of Laramie, Wyoming in 1887, highlighting the city's many opportunities, but also its failure to confront its rising moral challenges, particularly prostitution, drinking, and gambling. The metaphorical comparison to Sodom…
Cross-dressing at a cowboy dance in Estes Park (1920)
An account in Estes Park Trail Talk describing a "cowboy dance" in Estes Park where at least some of the men dressed as women and the women dressed as men. The men were presented with onion "corsages."
A prize for a man who can "pass" as a woman at Loveland masquerade ball (1905)
An article form the Loveland Register describing the upcoming masquerade ball hosted by the "Woodmen of the World" at the Armory Hall. As per usual, men in masks would need to buy tickets while all women attendees could enter for free. However, in…
"Male harlots" harass Peterson Street in Fort Collins (1884)
An account form the Fort Collins Courier in 1884 describing a known "lewd house" on Peterson Street in Fort Collins and a group of "male harlots" who disrupted city residents in their search for it. Based on the context of the article, the meaning of…
Section 46 of the Criminal Code of the Colorado Territory establishing "crimes against nature" (1861)
Section 46 of the Criminal Code of Colorado, established in 1861. It made "crimes against nature" (which typically included sodomy) a crime in the newly established Colorado Territory. The law would be revised several times, until it was revised out…
James Kennelly charged with "crime against nature" in Fort Collins (1890)
The Fort Collins Courier reports on the events of the local grand jury, including charging a man named James Kennelly with a "crime against nature." The details of the crime are vague, but may have included homosexual acts. If so, Kennelly may have…