10.Periodicals of the time sometimes casually named known sodomites, and at one point even
suggested that sodomy was increasingly popular. This does not imply that homosexuals
necessarily lived in security - specific police agents, for instance, watched the
Tuileries, even then a known cruising area. But, as with much sexual behaviour under the
Old Regime, discretion was a key concern on all sides (especially since members of
prominent families were sometimes implicated) - the law seemed most concerned with those
who were the least discreet.
Between 1730 and 1733, the Netherlands experienced a sodomy scare, in which 276 men were
executed.
