What is "molly house"

n. (context UK archaic English) A tavern or private room where homosexuals and cross-dressers could meet for sexual encounters.

Molly-house was a term used in 18th and 19th century England for a meeting place for homosexual men. These meeting places were generally taverns, public houses, coffeehouses or even private rooms where men could either socialize or meet possible sexual partners.

Even if these clubs tended to display a heavy sexual connotation, some critics are reluctant to classify them as brothels. Rictor Norton, for example, argues that the regular customers could have been in fact mutual friends, at least at the beginning, since consistent evidence concerning male prostitution seems to be insufficient until the 1780s. At that time homosexual sexual activities were illegal and were heavily prosecuted; they remained capital offences until 1861. In this context, particularly during the 1720s, molly-houses came to be the scenes of raids and arrests, and their customers the ideal target for blackmailers.

Molly-houses can be considered a precursor to some types of contemporary meeting places for the gay community.