Behind Stone Walls

We know immigrants came to America for all sorts of reasons. Many of these came from Wales where, in the decades before and after 1900, a decline in the demand for coal slowly bankrupted this tiny nation's primary industry. There is no reason to doubt that many men fled their homelands for a reason never discussed in history books - sexual attraction to other men. Social elitism, racial prejudice, and fierce nationalism were among the "stone walls" of that era, but it was an age when there was nothing worse than being queer. In that respect, America was no different.