How the Mafia shaped LGBTQ+ nightlife: find out at the Weekend of Mistakes 2026
"Was this genuine protection, or a quasi-protection racket targeting a community the state was actively persecuting?"
By Aaron Sugg
Professor Anja Shortland will explore the unlikely connection between the Mafia and LGBTQ+ nightlife in New York City from the 1950s to the 1970s at Weekend of Mistakes 2026.
The history event will take place at Hay Castle from 20 to 22 March, featuring bestselling authors and speakers educating on social issues past and present.
Topics range from the Mafia’s role in 1960s queer nightlife, the economics of football, Gen Z pension prospects, Trumponomics, to debt and mental health.
LGBTQ+ nightlife in New York City during the 1950s to the 1970s
The King’s College London professor will offer a unique perspective on the Mafia’s interaction with LGBTQ+ communities in New York City at a time when being gay was considered a “crime against nature”.
The State Liquor Authority refused licences to most queer venues at the time, and those that stayed open were routinely raided due to homosexuality being criminalised.
The mob stepped into the gap, paying off police to keep bars operating and effectively selling LGBTQ+ people access to semi-safe social spaces in a hostile legal environment.
Though the Mafia offered safety for the LGBTQ+ community, was it authentic?
Though organised crime offered protection, through bribes and muscle, the Mafia profited from patrons via overpricing, unsafe conditions, blackmail and skimming.
Shortland will ask: “Was this genuine protection, or a quasi-protection racket targeting a community the state was actively persecuting?”
She will go into depth about the history of the Stonewall Inn, which first opened in 1934 and was later converted into the famous gay bar in the mid 1960s.
Weekend of Mistakes 2026 will feature presentations from bestselling authors
In addition to Shortland, Weekend of Mistakes 2026 will feature presentations from bestselling authors and economists, including Felix Salmon, Merryn Somerset Webb, and others.
Russell Napier, Keeper of The Library of Mistakes, described the event as: “A Glastonbury for financial historians – there was just a little mud, and the only drug was caffeine, but minds expanded all the same!”
For tickets and further information, please visit the official Weekend of Mistakes 2026 website.
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