Public Faces, Private Lives
Text from Improper Bostonians

Homophobia and Urban Renewal (continued) At least one official, City Councillor Frederick "Freddy" Langone, was willing to endorse publicly the destruction of Boston's gay bars. What follows is an excerpt from Langone's remarks at a city council meeting on July 7, 1965: "Either we lick it, we will stop it, or let them continue to exist. We are now concerned about the South Cove area. I count at least four or five places where [gay bars] exist now, and one outside the area on Carver Street.... I am wondering now if we eliminate a half dozen of those places within the South Cove area, perhaps the youth of America in this area would be served better.... "We will be better off without these incubators of homo-sexuality and indecency and a Bohemian way of life. I tell you right now, we will be better off without it and if we accomplish nothing else, at least we will uproot this cancer in one area of the city." . Photo: Demolition of the Crawford House, Scollay Square, 1962.