Molly Houses.

One of the things that I do when researching a topic is I ask Google’s Bard...

“What were molly houses in the 1700s?”
Molly houses were establishments in 18th-century England where men who engaged in same-sex relationships could meet and socialize. The term "molly" was a slang term for a homosexual man, and "molly-house" was a play on the term "coffee-house," which was a popular place for people to gather in the 18th century.

Molly house in 18th century England

Molly houses were often located in back rooms of taverns or inns, and they were typically furnished with benches, chairs, and tables. Some molly houses also had private rooms where men could engage in sexual activity. The patrons of molly houses were typically working-class men, but there were also some middle-class and upper-class patrons.

Molly houses were illegal in England, and the men who frequented them were at risk of being arrested and prosecuted. However, molly houses continued to exist throughout the 18th century, and they were an important part of the early gay subculture in England.

The first recorded raid on a molly house in England took place in 1699. In the 18th century, there were an average of 30 raids on molly houses per year. The men who were arrested in these raids were typically fined or imprisoned, and some were even sentenced to death.

Despite the risks, molly houses continued to be popular throughout the 18th century. They provided a safe space for men who engaged in same-sex relationships to meet and socialize, and they played an important role in the development of the early gay subculture in England.

That didn’t satisfy my research so I asked…

“Did molly houses in the 1700s also include transgender?”
Yes, molly houses in the 1700s were known to include transgender people. While the term "transgender" was not in use at the time, there were people who identified as a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth who frequented molly houses. These individuals were often referred to as "mollies" or "sissies," and they were typically effeminate men who dressed in women's clothing and adopted feminine mannerisms.

18^th Century Molly Houses

Transgender people were often drawn to molly houses because they provided a safe space where they could express their gender identity without fear of judgment or persecution. In molly houses, transgender people could socialize with other people who understood and accepted them, and they could participate in activities that were considered feminine, such as dancing and cross-dressing.

Molly houses were also important for transgender people because they provided them with access to information and resources about gender identity and expression. In molly houses, transgender people could learn about different ways to express their gender, and they could connect with other transgender people who could offer them support and guidance.

While molly houses were not always safe spaces for transgender people, they were nonetheless an important part of the early transgender community in England. Molly houses provided transgender people with a place where they could be themselves, and they played an important role in helping transgender people to develop a sense of community and identity.

Here are some additional details about transgender people and molly houses in the 1700s:

• Transgender people were often called "mollies" or "sissies" in molly houses.
• Transgender people often dressed in women's clothing and adopted feminine mannerisms in molly houses.
• Molly houses were an important place for transgender people to socialize with other people who understood and accepted them.
• Molly houses provided transgender people with access to information and resources about gender identity and expression.
• Molly houses were not always safe spaces for transgender people, but they were nonetheless an important part of the early transgender community in England.

That was more like I was looking for.

What started this line of research was a comment posted on Yahoo News saying that we were something new that there were no trans people before. So that set me off researching the topic. And from the research…

Miss Muff's molly house in Whitechapel
Eastern Women’s Museum

 One of the challenges of uncovering transgender histories is that even where we find stories which hint at trans identities, we can't go back and ask the individuals in question how they would describe themselves.

Even if we could, concepts of gender identity constantly shift and change throughout history, and the question would probably make very little sense to someone who lived centuries before us.

However, the hints we find show us that in the past, just like today, gender was not a simple binary.

Molly Houses

In 18th century London a 'molly house' was a coffeehouse, inn, or tavern at which men could meet in secret to socialise and have sex. 'Molly' or 'moll' was a slang term for a gay man, and for a lower class woman, or a woman selling sex.

Although at this time in England sex between men was punishable by death, molly houses were part of a thriving gay subculture:

    The legal records document investigations into about 30 molly houses during the course of the century. Considering that the population of London was only about 600,000 in the 1720s, having even just a dozen molly houses at that time is a bit like having 200 gay clubs in the 1970s. In some respects, the eighteenth-century molly subculture was as extensive as any modern gay subculture.

[…]

On 5 October 1728 The Weekly Journal; or, British Gazetteer includes a news item about the raid:

    On Sunday Night last a Constable with proper Assistants, searched the House of Jonathan Muff, alias Miss Muff, in Black-Lyon Yard, near Whitechapel Church, where they apprehended nine male Ladies, including the Man of the House. They were secured that Night in New Prison, and Monday Morning they were examined before Justice Jackson, in Ayliff-streeet; John Bleak Cawlend was committed to Newgate, he being charged on Oath with committing the detestable Sin of Sodomy.

Of those arrested according to the article of the ones we know; two were whipped, one was fined, two were acquitted, and one tried to take his own life in prison.The British Newspaper Archive had an article that said,

The mollies, he illustrated, ‘rather fancy themselves women, imitated all the little vanities that custom has reconcil’d [sic] to the female sex, affecting to speak, walk, tattle, curtsy, cry, scold, and mimick [sic] all manner of effeminacy.’

Then we have on this side of the pond the case “Gray vs. Pitts” Assault and Battery. In 1771

Mr. Hutchinson. Pitts told me he had sent a Lad to the Custom house to call Gray out to demand Satisfaction of him. And I saw em at it, and the Blood dropping from G's Head. Stick knotty, 1/2 Inch Diameter.

Tim. Odin. Pitts went into the Barbers shop, and asked Gray if he would ask his Pardon. No, you wooly headed Rascall, I wont. D—n you you shall, running his Fist up says Pitts. I could not hear the rest of the Conversation till Pitts struck him. The stick did not seem to be struck hard. But Gray said, Ile set this down to your everlasting Account.

Melvill. Gray had no stick nor Hatt. Gray and Pitts were coming from Dehones shop, to Carpenters. Pitts in a Passion. Pitts shoved him off first with his Hand, and then a stroke with a stick. Saw the Blood.

So what got Mr. Pitt in a tizzy?

It seems that Mr. Pitt had the hots for this young woman but it was Mr. Gray,

Mr. Molineux. I saw him dressed in Womens Cloaths. He had the outward Appearance of a Woman, a Gown and Womens Cloaths. I saw a Couple of young Gentlemen gallanting him. Pitts was one. I was very sensible they were taken in. Plaisted was the other. They appeared to be very loving—she rather Coy. I called out to Pitts at New Boston.7 He turnd a deaf Ear. He came back and said he had a very clever Girl, and went to her again.

So this kind of deflates the sails of those who say that trans is new.

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Right now, if all goes as planned I am driving back from my niece’s in New Jersey.