Because of a lack of documents and studies, the actual practice of a homosexual lifestyle before the eighteenth century is little known. Those insights which are available, and even the definition of sodomy (including homo- as well as heterosexual acts), seem to suggest that for a long time sodomy implied neither a particular lifestyle nor inclusion in a clearly designated minority. Most often, moreover, an attraction to boys did not preclude other tastes. In respect to this matter, however, the police archives of the eighteenth century indicate, at the heart of the Parisian population, a transformation which had perhaps begun earlier at court: male homosexuality becomes a taste that sets one apart from other men, being seen both as a refinement and a source of particular identity.

Police sources consist, for the most part, of reports dictated by agents provocateurs paid by a specialized office, and by officers charged with overseeing those royal gardens open to the public. These reports contain abundant and valuable details about the daily lives of those arrested, because the agents, appropriately called mouches, encouraged those who approached them to give as much information as possible about their desires and acquaintances.

The Geography of “la Bonnaventure”

For hours on end, police observers were on the lookout for those cruising for a sex partner. It is actually possible, from these reports, to reconstruct cruising routes in Paris.