Laud Humphreys
Laud Humphreys, originally named Robert Allan Humphreys, was an American sociologist and Episcopalian priest known for his controversial research on the dynamics of anonymous homosexual encounters in public places, particularly in restrooms. After his ordination and subsequent doctoral studies, he conducted groundbreaking yet ethically contentious fieldwork that involved observing men engaging in sexual acts, often without their consent or knowledge. His seminal work, "Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places," published in 1970, revealed that many of the men he studied were married and socially integrated, challenging prevailing stereotypes of homosexual individuals as deviants.
Humphreys' research prompted significant debate regarding research ethics, contributing to the establishment of institutional review boards designed to protect the rights of human subjects in studies. His findings not only reshaped academic perceptions of male sexuality but also contributed to a broader understanding of sexual behavior, influencing societal attitudes and even affecting legal approaches to public sexual conduct. In the 1980s, Humphreys publicly embraced his own sexual identity, further intertwining his personal experiences with his academic contributions. He retired from teaching in 1986, and his legacy remains influential in discussions about ethics in social research and the complexities of human sexuality.
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Laud Humphreys
American sociologist and author
- Born: October 16, 1930
- Birthplace: Chickasha, Oklahoma
- Died: August 23, 1988
- Place of death: Van Nuys, California
Cause of notoriety: Humphreys, after studying anonymous male homosexual behavior in public restrooms, was criticized for unethical research, although some credited him with dispelling stereotypes about homosexuals.
Active: 1965-1970
Locale: St. Louis, Missouri, and Claremont, California
Early Life
Robert Allan Humphreys (HUHM-freez) adopted the first name “Laud” (lawd) in 1955 upon his successful completion of studies at the Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, where he was ordained as an Episcopalian priest. Five years later, in 1960, Humphreys married Nancy Wallace. He continued his education, earning a doctoral degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Sociology Career
Humphreys learned after his father’s death that his father had traveled frequently to New Orleans in order to engage in sex with other men. This knowledge perhaps influenced Humphreys: He focused his dissertation research on the characteristics of men who engaged in anonymous homosexual acts in public places. During Humphreys’ tenure as a graduate student at Washington University, most arrests of homosexual men were for engaging in fellatio in public restrooms, also called “tearoom sex.”
In order to study tearoom behavior, Humphreys posed as a “watchqueen” (a guard who warns the participants when others, especially the authorities, approach) at the tearooms, thereby observing hundreds of men in sexual acts. However, unbeknownst to his subjects, Humphreys also recorded detailed descriptions of them, as well as their license plate numbers. Using a contact with the police, Humphreys later secured the identities and addresses of most of the men. Then, changing his appearance and claiming to be conducting a health study (for which he truly was a researcher, although these particular men were not subjects), Humphreys interviewed the men in their homes.
A small minority fit the cultural homosexual stereotype; however, most of the men Humphreys had observed were married with children. Humphreys’ research was criticized by some fellow academics for his follow-up interviews with the men. Because his research occurred before the advent of institutional review boards and human subjects committees, Humphreys neither revealed the true nature of his study nor requested consent to participate. Instead, he asked the men about their attitudes toward homosexual behavior, couching his questions in the context of a health study. Many academics and researchers argued that Humphreys’ approach was psychologically harmful to the subjects, partly because it was potentially threatening to their marriages and social standing. However, to a small group of men at the tearoom, Humphreys did reveal his true identity as a researcher and was able to gain a rich body of knowledge about the “tearoom trade.”
After the publication of Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places in 1970, Humphreys went to Pitzer College in Claremont, California, in 1972 to teach sociology. After realizing his own homosexual preference and “coming out” publicly as a gay man in 1980, Humphreys left his wife and children. He retired from the college in 1986 and died two years later.
Impact
Initially, Laud Humphreys’ tearoom studies led to a moral outrage about the privacy of research subjects. Other professors in the Washington University sociology department learned of the research afterward—some opposed the research as unethical, some left Washington University, while some petitioned the university president to repeal Humphreys’ degree. Humphreys’ research and the publicity surrounding Tearoom Trade contributed to the establishment of institutional review boards and human subjects committees in American university departments.
Humphreys’ study of the tearoom trade challenged many public perceptions about homosexual behavior and gay men. Most men in his sample were married and respectable members of their communities—a difference from the prevailing stereotype of homosexuals as dangerous deviants. Some people credit Humphreys with reduced arrests for tearoom activity. In subsequent decades, sociologists reflected more positively on the benefits of Humphreys’ work and recognized that he helped build a better understanding of male sexuality, which in turn became helpful for the understanding of the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Bibliography
Galliher, John F., Wayne Brekhus, and David P. Keys. Laud Humphreys: Prophet of Homosexuality and Sociology. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. A solid biography of Humphreys’ life and career.
Humphreys, Laud. Out of the Closets: The Sociology of Homosexual Liberation. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972. Another piece of Humphreys’ famed research.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places. Chicago: Aldine, 1970. The product of Humphreys’ controversial research on tearooms.
Schacht, Steven P., ed. Special issue of International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 24, nos. 3-5 (2004). This issue is devoted to analyzing with a series of essays the impact of Humphreys’ research.