being gay in the 1930's

Excerpt from The Maybelline Story and the spirited family dynasty behind it. Copyright, 2010 Bettie Youngs BooksIn the 1930's the tabloids of William Randolph Hearst reported that companies like Maybelline were responsible for “America’s moral decline,” and when Malcolm White’s 3-year study concluded that “homosexual executives in the beauty industry were bent on corrupting American womanhood,” irate husbands and club women lobbied the US Congress en Massey. Congress drafted two bills to “purge homosexuals wherever possible.” The Hays Code came about, which made it impossible to be openly gay, or even bi-sexual, sending stars such as Cary Grant and Randolph Scott into well-publicized married lives. Or so the story goes!

Tom Lyle and his partner Emery Shaver remained hidden from public scrutiny, behind The gates of their Villa Valentino, in the Hollywood Hills and ran the Maybelline Co. from a distance.