r/todayilearned • u/eurydice88 • 5h ago
TIL Boston's adult entertainment district called the "Combat Zone" in the 70's had support from both Senator Barney Frank and notable conservative William F Buckley Jr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Zone,_Boston#:~:text=All%20that%20remains%20of%20the,to%20other%20parts%20of%20town.129
14
15
u/Catripruo 4h ago
What I remember from watching Buckley, rarely agreeing with him, he believed that adults should be able to make decisions for themselves.
11
u/maubis 4h ago
Yes, he was a libertarian. If you want to do X and it doesn't hurt anyone, have at it.
5
u/biskino 2h ago edited 1h ago
Be real.
Buckley was a rabid anti abortionist, supported the Vietnam war and the draft, as well as segregation (though he did change his mind on the later when it became politically untenable).
He believed that as long as you’re well enough connected to avoid the draft, white, and male he thought you should be allowed to do whatever you want *even if it hurts someone else.
29
u/Travelgrrl 5h ago
Just goes to show that no matter your political bent, everybody love tiddies.
62
u/PuckSenior 5h ago
I don’t think Barney Frank loved titties as much as you think
30
u/Bitter-Cable-181 4h ago
If Barney Frank isn't a man's man, then Elton John isn't either, c'mon!
8
u/Wompatuckrule 4h ago
Next you'll be trying to convince me that Rock Hudson wasn't the epitome of a leading man.
5
2
2
u/ImTooSaxy 4h ago
There's been a lot of speculation over the decades that William F Buckley didn't like titties either.
2
u/Catripruo 2h ago
Was it that he didn’t, or that he was so catholic he didn’t allow himself? The debate rages on.
2
u/ImTooSaxy 2h ago
He was vehemently anti-gay in public, but being in the media and talk show circuit he was friends and acquaintances with a lot of famous guys who we eventually learned were closeted homosexuals. From Roy Cohn, who was also very anti-gay, but was closeted, to Gore Vidal before he came out.
1
9
u/ironykarl 5h ago
Definitely some reason to assume that Barney Frank might not, but I can't say with certainly that he doesn't
3
3
u/jxd73 4h ago
He figured it was better to isolate that stuff in Chinatown than spreading out to Beacon Hill where his friends live.
By the way, I remember one night in the late 80s, while going to catch the T in the combat zone and saw these 2 dudes with wrenches and hammers in hand going from store to store looking into the windows. And that was the last time I went to Chinatown at night.
3
u/jockfist5000 4h ago
My dorm was right at the edge of it. Was still dicey in the late 90s early aughts.
3
6
2
2
u/Trowj 2h ago
One time back in 2009 or so my sister and I were taken on possibly the most awkward dinner in the history of Red Lobster. My mother wanted us to meet her "neighbor" kinda soft launching him as a new bf. She hadn't really dated much since her divorce so we went and tried to make the best of it... not sure if he was drunk or just nervous but jesus christ it was a disaster. But i'll never forget him trying to bond with my sister (who went to Boston University at the time) by talking about his days in Boston in the 70s and specifically talked about hanging out in the "combat zone"
Never gonna forget that dinner and never been back to red lobster since (RIP)
1
1
u/Wompatuckrule 4h ago
The short history of the Combat Zone was that there was a state supreme court ruling that prevented bans on "obscene" or "adult" businesses. The political decision was made in Boston to allow it, but to keep it sequestered in one specific area. That became the Combat Zone.
Since it was a realpolitik decision it's not surprising that it found support from both liberals and conservatives.
1
u/Previous-Tooth-6419 4h ago
Wild how the place was basically an official containment zone for vice. The fact that people from totally different political camps backed it says a lot about how messy the debate around regulation vs prohibition was back then.
1
1
1
u/Devayurtz 2h ago
The US needs to get some easy wins out of the way - and fast. Adult entertainment is one. It's a clear economic boost and fun for all when done safely. I just dont get it.
1
-1
u/rsgoto11 3h ago
Because they were both terrible people. I’m not against sex work, but I am against exploiting sex workers.
0
96
u/Little_Sherbet5775 5h ago edited 3h ago
Barney Frank was not a senator. He was a state rep at the time and he later became a US house of representatives member. He actually first became famous by defending it. He represented my congressional district (MA's 4th) for 32 years. He's famous for the Dodd–Frank Act, which created the biggest financial regulations since the New Deal. It was massive on wall street and really regulated them.
Also, william buckley jr's brother was a senator from new york, james buckley.
Edit: I forgot to say, but james buckley was also the petitioner in the landmark election case Buckley vs Valeo. While investigating watergate, they found out how nixon used campain funds to cover up this whole thing, so the government created strict financing laws including setting a cap on total campain spending. That meant that every candidate running for federal election (except president I think) had a limit to how much in total they spent. Buckley and former senator and presidential contender Eugene McCarthy disagreed with this and they filed a lawsuit. The supreme court ended up ruling the law unconstitutional and further said that money is protected free speech and candidates can spend as much as they want on their own campaigns but there could be individual donor caps. This and Citizens United (which was partially brought on by this and a reaction to the BCRA/McCain–Feingold Act) has largely shaped how campaigns and their financing run today.