Is He a “Social Danger”? The Franco Regime’s Judicial Prosecution of Homosexuality in Málaga under the Ley de Vagos y Maleantes

Abstract

I n F e b r u a r y 1961 a m a n n a m e d Robert was indicted by the Juzgado de Instruccion Especial de Vagos y Maleantes (Special Court of Vagrants and Thugs) in Malaga for socially dangerous behavior. He testified that although “he was born homosexual, he had been dealing with his defect with as much dissimulation as possible.” Robert’s lawyer argued that his homosexuality was not a social danger given his overall normative social behavior. This attention to the defendant’s integration in his social environment was a common theme in trials for homosexuality in Malaga. Although most of these trials ended in acquittals, the judge found that Robert was a social danger and should be subject to “security measures” because his sexual relations had included minors. This article will investigate how state and social institutions, legal arguments about social danger and homosexuality, and the perceived relationship between accusations of homosexuality and other antisocial behaviors affected these trials and their judicial decisions. According to Francisco Vazquez Garcia and Richard Cleminson, the history of homosexuality under Franco’s regime remained a relatively unexplored field of research well into the current millennium. More recently, scholarship by Geoffroy Huard, Arturo Arnalte, Oscar Guasch, Alberto Mira