Edward Francis "Skull" Murphy

Edward Francis "Skull" Murphy (1926–1989) was a bouncer, mob boss, and gay activist. He was the bouncer at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village the night of the infamous Stonewall Riots, June 28, 1969. He is a controversial figure in the gay rights movement of the 1960s due to his involvement in a prominent extortion ring, The Chickens and the Bulls, that targeted gay men.

Early life and career Murphy was born in Greenwich Village to Irish and Italian parents. He previously attended Catholic school, but was expelled and put into reform school after his assault on a police officer.

Murphy enlisted into the army in 1943, serving one tour in France during World War II. After returning to New York in 1946 after the end of the War , he served as a bouncer at various gay bars in New York City, including the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village , which was then controlled by the Genovese crime family. Murphy was also involved with the Colombo crime family.

He often cared for, and sometimes pimped, young gay runaways that sought shelter at the gay bars that employed him, earning him the moniker Ed "Mother" Murphy. These young gay runaways often had to turn to sex work to survive after fleeing their homes. Sex work was common in gay spaces in the 1960s, and most "regulars" at the Stonewall Inn were sex workers.

During his time as a bouncer, he also had a short-lived career as a wrestler, donning the moniker the "Villainous Skull Murphy" for his heel character. In his two years as a wrestler, he fought notable wrestlers like The Super Swedish Angel and Gorgeous George. and jailed for 10 years after a spree of armed robberies targeting dentists offices for gold used in fillings.

The Chickens and the Bulls The The Chickens and the Bulls was a massive, inter-state operation during the 1960s that exploited gay men. The operation worked with "chickens," typically trafficked young gay men who were sex workers and people impersonating law enforcement officers, or "bulls." The "chickens" would lure the victim to a second location, like a hotel room, and get the victim into a compromising situation for blackmail purposes. Then, the "bulls" would bust into the hotel room and "catch" the victim in the act of sodomy or illegal gay activity, or the "chicken" would brutalize the victim, stealing their money and identification materials for subsequent blackmail.

As the "door manager" for the Stonewall Inn, Murphy maintained a list of the Inn's clientele, allegedly later used as the targets and provided some "chickens," or young gay male sex workers, for the operation. One of his alleged "chicken" victims was a young Puerto Rican gay man, Tano. Efn|Another source mentioned Tano as his boyfriend, although there is no information to confirm this claim. There is no existing information to confirm these claims.

FBI Informant Murphy was working as the Hilton hotel director when he was arrested for his involvement in the trafficking ring. and was the director for the One-to-One Foundation at the Manhattan Developmental Center.

He died of heart failure in 1989 in Manhattan, according to his lifelong friend. A few months after his death, he was named the Grand Marshal of the Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade.