The Chicken and The Bull: One of the Largest Extortion Schemes of Gay Men You've Never Heard Of

Panic: Queer True Crime

When I started telling these stories, I understood the organized efforts to shame homosexuality out of existence. What I didn't expect was the level of criminality that would grow out of the demonizing of LGBTQ+ people. In the 1960s, Chicago police officer John J. Pyne began to organize a group of criminals and con men in an extortion ring that would go on to scam more than 1,000 men out of a million dollars across the United States, Mexico, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The FBI called the Chicken and the Bull extortion scheme the largest scheme of its kind up to that time. It is, in fact, the largest organized extortion of gay men ever. It is also another example of the depths and cold brutality of homophobia unchecked. Here's the link to the fantastic article William McGown wrote for Slate. The article has become one of the few references to this scandal.

To watch this episode:

https://youtu.be/qSvPhDqNXKU

William McGowan's 2012 article in Slate:

https://slate.com/human-interest/2012/07/the-chickens-and-the-bulls-the-rise-and-incredible-fall-of-a-vicious-extortion-ring-that-preyed-on-prominent-gay-men-in-the-1960s.html