Long Beach has a reputation as a queer-friendly city, but for more than 100 years, starting in 1914, the city’s police department targeted gay men for entrapment related to alleged lewd conduct. The practice is suspected to have stopped in 2016 when a resident who was arrested in one of the discriminatory undercover sting operations fought back and had his day in court.

It was a historic day. On April 29, 2016, Judge Halim Dhanidina dismissed the case. In a scathing ruling, Dhanidina not only called out the police department for the illegal, discriminatory, and unconstitutional tactics, but also the city prosecutor’s office for pursuing the case.

It was an historic day because it was the first time in Long Beach history that a judge had dismissed one of these entrapments in a pre-trial hearing. Defense attorneys had tried for decades, but to no avail.

It’s also worth noting that almost 10 years after the ruling, nobody in the city of Long Beach has apologized for the harm inflicted on gay men and the LGBTQ+ community.

This event will be a lively and informative panel discussion. Guests scheduled to appear include Rory Moroney, the defendant in the historic case; Stephanie Loftin, one of defense attorneys in the landmark case; Halim Dhanidina, the retired judge who issued the landmark ruling; and Gerrie Schipske, author of “The Long Beach Gay Trials,” which explains how the entrapment tactics started in Long Beach in 1914.