For example, the Mafia not only invented modern gay urban culture but some of the tough guys got down and dirty with the scene, and Hortis writes:
Even in its formative decades, the Cosa Nostra had
some members who engaged in forms of same-sex acts or transgender dressing.
According to FBI informants, David Petillo "in his early teens was reputed to be
a 'fairy,'" and "dressed as a woman" to disguise himself while executing hits.
(Petillo was convicted with Charles Luciano for compulsory prostitution in
1936). Similarly, Charles Gagliodotto reportedly wore dresses and carried his
gun in a purse so often he was known in the Genovese Family as the "fag
hit-man." Later, the wiseguy operator of the Stonewall Inn, whose father was a
prominent mafioso, had male lovers. Mobster Joseph "Crazy Joey" Gallo talked
about how "normal, natural and unremarkable" homosexuality was in prison. Gallo
held interests in gay bars including the Purple http://bitterqueen.typepad.com/friends_of_ours/2014/05/wise-guys-exposed-in-the-mob-and-the-city.htmlOnion and Washington Square.