Steel Closets: Voic of Gay, Lbian, and Transgenr Steelworkers on JSTOR

Contents:

• GAY STEEL WORKERS OF AMERI
• MIDWTERN STEELWORKERS SAY IT WAS EASIER TO BE GAY IN THE 1970S THAN TODAY, AUTHOR ANNE BALAY CLAIMS
• STEEL CLOSETS: VOIC OF GAY, LBIAN, AND TRANSGENR STEELWORKERS
• STEEL-WORKER GAY
• STEEL CLOSETS: VOIC OF GAY, LBIAN, AND TRANSGENR STEELWORKERS PAPERBACK – ILLTRATED, FEBARY 1, 2016
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• GAY MOSW · CY GUI

GAY STEEL WORKERS OF AMERI

The USW stands behd our Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, Queer/Qutng, Asexual/Non-Bary, Pansexual, pl (LGBTQ+) members.

The steel l workers are gay men who works at the Ajax Steel Mill. In her new book, Steel Closets: Voic of Gay, Lbian and Transgenr Steelworkers, thor and scholar Anne Balay tak a no-holds-barred look at the liv of ral Midwterners who found themselv forced to live the closet. Although social acceptance of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) issu is on the upswg ternatnally, Balay was surprised to fd that the oppose was, fact, te among Midwtern l workers.

"In the '70s, was easier to be gay the ls than is now, " Balay said. "[Back then], gay and lbian people were jt sort of isolated were jt sort of 'that person over there who has this, you know, awkward personaly tra, ' but uld be ignored.

MIDWTERN STEELWORKERS SAY IT WAS EASIER TO BE GAY IN THE 1970S THAN TODAY, AUTHOR ANNE BALAY CLAIMS

" She then add, "When gay people got a polil clout and started to be a social threat to tradnal ways of life, then people the ls started to e down harr.

STEEL CLOSETS: VOIC OF GAY, LBIAN, AND TRANSGENR STEELWORKERS

My goal for Steel Closets was to document what life and work meant to one group of the workers, as they experienced the gay rights movement and rapid dtrializatn simultaneoly.

STEEL-WORKER GAY

Though I vised several archiv, cludg Rivers of Steel Homtead, PA, none mentned gay steelworkers at all. I would equent lol gay bars, and steelworker bars, and get faiar wh the culture.

STEEL CLOSETS: VOIC OF GAY, LBIAN, AND TRANSGENR STEELWORKERS PAPERBACK – ILLTRATED, FEBARY 1, 2016

I talked to many gay-intified men who had equent sex wh them, but I uldn’t fd a way to talk to straight men who did.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

And I had received ias about what gay and lbian people were, and how we acted. I me to unrstand that if scholars look for what we thk of as gay people, we’ll miss many of the queer pleasur and possibili that exist.

Also, I imaged that blue-llar workers would be racist and homophobic. Today we wele a gut blog post om Anne Balay, thor of Steel Closets: Voic of Gay, Lbian, and Transgenr Steelworkers. Even as substantial legal and social victori are beg celebrated wh the gay rights movement, much of workg-class Ameri still exists outsi the current narrativ of gay liberatn.

Balay draws on oral history terviews wh forty gay, lbian, and transgenr steelworkers, mostly livg northwtern Indiana, to give voice to this prevly silent and visible populatn.

GAY MOSW · CY GUI

In today’s post, she shar a nversatn she had wh unn steelworkers that highlights some of the work yet to be done to ensure a safe and open work environment for gay, lbian, and transgenr steelworkers. Over dner recently, I met wh three straight male steelworkers to ask why they feel their unn is so hospable to gay people. Pl Kaczocha has worked at the same l (now owned by Mtal) for over 30 years, and he assured me repeatedly over dner that his lol was very acceptg of gay people, and that discrimatn or harassment claims om gay workers would be taken serly.

He believ that any mistreatment of gay people would simply not be tolerated at his l. I asked him to rell all the people he has worked wh—all his unn brothers and sisters, down through the years—and unt the gay on. A unn is strong only if endows ALL workers wh this rpect, and Mike wants to fd a way to extend this to gay steelworkers.

Which would mean, this se, that gay workers will simply never fd protectn, sce they believe that intifyg themselv would make them more obv targets for harassment and vlence than they already are.

The unns will have to take first steps, such as puttg protectns place that make gay folks feel safe, or changg the stcture of benefs before gay people are willg to bee visible and intifiable. Thandabantu Iverson, a former member of the USW who now teach at Indiana Universy Northwt, is a black man, and he draws on his experience of racism to unrstand the treatment of gay steelworkers as a human rights issue.

Further, he go on to observe that each and every worker needs to accept that there are gay steelworkers out there. They have learned this before, regardg racial mori and women, and they n learn aga, once they accept that gay steelworkers do exist, even though they don’t intify themselv publicly. Both steelworkers and management mt now acknowledge that some of the -workers they know and love are gay—whether or not they self-intify—and gay workers will learn they’re not alone.

Her book Steel Closets: Voic of Gay, Lbian, and Transgenr Steelworkers is now available. For 22-year-old Leo, a gay prostute Strasbourg, France, turng tricks is more than a job. The htler, played by BPM alum Felix Mard, has unrequed feelgs for Ahd (Eric Bernard), a fellow sex worker who sists he's jt gay for pay.

How did playg this role change your perceptns of gay sex workers?

Anne Balay has done all of a great service wh this first ever look at the liv and sufferg of our gay brothers and sisters.