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The Ariston Bathhouse Raid: Unpacking a century-long legacy of anti-LGBTQ+ policing in America
snippet of one of the trial transcripts. The five surviving Ariston Bathhouse Raid trial transcripts were digitized in 2017 by the library of the City University of New York alongside the other:Lawyer: Now, did you notice the state of the defendant’s genital organ or penis, at the time that, as you say, he placed it in the anus of the man Walter BennetWitness: Yes, sir.Lawyer: In what state was it?Witness: It was in a state of erection.Lawyer: And what, if anything, did he do to Bennett other than that act?Witness: Oh, he laid down, after he withdrew his penis from –Lawyer: Well, after he withdrew his penis, did you notice the penis of the defendant?Witness: Yes, sir.Lawyer: And in what condition was the penis of the defendant, after he had withdrawn it from the anus of Bennett?Witness: In a state of collapse.The grim aftermath saw seven of the twelve men on trial sentenced to multiple years in prison.