They were set apart from brothels because the regular customers might be mutual friends or obliging strangers, not men paying for sexual services. During this era, sexual activities between men were illegal and frequently prosecuted; they remained punishable by death until Because they were subject to raids, molly houses and their patrons became the ideal target for blackmailers.
If you were a man who was into other men, you could pick-up a soldier or a laborer in the street and bring him back to a Molly House where you could get to know each other in a hidden corner or a private room.
It also had a backroom where men could get it on. There would be performances of mock-weddings in The Chapel, a prelude to sex. Gay men could go and socialize with other like-minded guys, but they could also leave and troll the streets for guys to have sex with, then bring them back to the molly house.
In the last half of the 20 th century, gay men were often thought of as people that had sex in public places like bars, parks, or public toilets. But that is a very recent idea, because before that, straight men were also likely to use the same public spaces, bars, parks, dark streets, and theaters for sex with women. This area was known for welcoming darkest and most dangerous enemies to society; it was more Tenderloin than West Hollywood. Clap ran her place as a coffee house instead of a tavern.
It was well-known within the homosexual community. She seemed to have genuinely cared for her customers. Clap may have been in it as much for pleasure as profit, judging from accounts by her goodwill towards her customers. One guy lodged at her house for two years. She later provided false testimony to help get a man acquitted of sodomy charges. Clap was arrested for encouraging her customers to commit sodomy.
