The surprisg tth about the liv of gay men Victorian England · Manchter Metropolan Universy

Contents:

• BEFORE STRAIGHT AND GAY
• 100 YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF GAY MEN LOVE
• SEX SYMBOL: HOW ANTO BEME A GAY CO WORD THE VICTORIAN ERA
• VTAGE GAY FICTN
• THE SURPRISG TTH ABOUT THE LIV OF GAY MEN VICTORIAN ENGLAND
• A GAY VICTORIAN AFFAIR
• THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY
• NEWLY PUBLISHED PORTRAS DOCUMENT A CENTURY OF GAY MEN LOVE
• A PEEK UNR THE TOWEL: INSI THE 500-YEAR HISTORY OF GAY BATHHO
• ‘COULDN’T BELIEVE I WAS SEEG ’: HOME MOVI OFFER RARE GLIMPSE OF GAY LIFE ST. LOUIS 1945
• GAY CONVERSN THERAPY’S DISTURBG 19TH-CENTURY ORIGS
• GAY MEN POSTERS AND ART PRTS

BEFORE STRAIGHT AND GAY

Before Straight and GayThe discreet, disorientg passns of the Victorian eraMarc BurckhardtEven by the formidable standards of ement Victorian fai, the Bensons were an timidatg lot.

As a great al of queer history has by now monstrated, the strictly fed tegori of “homosexual” and “heterosexual” are relatively new: bright l drawn across the late-20th-century sexual landspe that ma “g out” a dichotomo the Victorians, the suatn was much more fluid. And when he did e , after a theoretil nversatn on the subject wh Fred, he wrote the word out—“the homo sexual qutn”— a way that suggted ’s another way of unrstandg reticence, though, which Fred, Arthur’s sunnier brother, suppli.

Unlike Fred Benson, she was unsentimental about her Victorian upbrgg, yet as the dichotomy between homosexual and heterosexual solidified, she uld see what had been lost: “Where people mistake, as I thk, is perpetually narrowg and namg the immensely pose and wi flung passns—drivg stak through them, herdg them between screens. Sandwiched between the fluidy of the Victorian years and the proliferatg sexual and genr inti of the new lennium, the late 20th century’s straight-gay paradigm looks cidly old-fashned—maybe even a ltle stodgy. A nobleman, displayg an Anto his stately home, uld show off his taste and knowledge of the Classics, and perhaps drop a ht about his sexual 1861 Brish law did away wh the ath penalty for homosexual acts but ma them punishable by a mimum of 10 years prison.

100 YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF GAY MEN LOVE

Victorian poets and wrers began g Anto as a word for love between men, shieldg their exploratns of the forbidn ncept om censor 18th-century brooch shows reliefs of Anto (left) and Hadrian, and was likely worn by a gay man as a d signal to others. ” Symonds argued that love between men rose to the plane of gay wrers were not as overt as Symonds but ed Anto as for same-sex sire, knowg that gay rears would pick up on the subtext and pdish typ would be none the Osr Wil’s nt novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), the tle character embodi the late 19th-century tensn between sexualy and moraly. The Victorian era is important to be looked at so that we know the cultural ntext which Osr Wil ed to live homosexualy went agast the notn of masculy, was talked about rarely and threatened the fay stcture as well as was believed to go agast beg fundamentally Brish.

SEX SYMBOL: HOW ANTO BEME A GAY CO WORD THE VICTORIAN ERA

In the fundamental Brish society, was embarrassg to speak of this sexual was only when the trials of Osr Wil were gog on that the term and ia of classifyg homosexualy me to limelight.

Observable homosexualyEven though heterosexualy was nsired normal and natural throughout Victorian era, there is seen visible crease homosexualy pecially among men as well as telligentsia durg that perd of history. Together, the pair found the Llie-Lohman Mm of Gay and Lbian Art—the first stutn of s kd—which is down the block, on Wooster, unassumg Llie happened to poke his head out to the hallway to terme the e of the ck; before he uld shut the door, a group om the art magaze I worked for had charged their way through. This somewhat jad crew of crics was ankly awed to fd every available surface the dky, crimson Prce Street loft absolutely vered—let me repeat: vered—wh explicly homoerotic art all styl and media, cludg var se-specific murals.

VTAGE GAY FICTN

Photo by Max Burkhalter for wi-rangg llectn gently illtrat the changg landspe of public gay life and the civil rights advanc crementally gaed sce he began discreetly buyg homoerotic art the 1950s. When the llectn began to take shape, sodomy was outlawed ( still is several stat), and gays uld be refed service at bars and other there were numerable challeng to gog about buildg such a libido, Uranian llectn.

Much like homosexualy self, gay art was hidn away—tucked the back rooms of galleri, wh entry granted by s and vert nods passed between figur who had to read the other as part of their circle. He relled gog to a ernment-sponsored gay bar Amsterdam: “The first thg you saw when you walked was this huge, long bar wh a gigantic picture of Queen Juliana sg out at her gay subjects. While SoHo is now one of the most chichi neighborhoods New York, was then, as Llie remd me, sentially an dtrial wasteland where only few artists—and fewer gay people—igned to live.

THE SURPRISG TTH ABOUT THE LIV OF GAY MEN VICTORIAN ENGLAND

” Still, was durg this , 1987, that Llie and Lohman created their nonprof foundatn, which was accreded as a mm after the peak of the AIDS crisis, Mayor Rudy Giuliani—“a great, honorable Catholic, ” Llie uldn’t help but jibe—“fally managed to kill public gay life New York.

In the Victorian era, homosexualy was emed to place a terrible stra on the fay dynamic and when cizens and officials were forced to speak about , the ‘acced’ men were vilified, ostracized, and classified as dividuals who went outsi acceptable masculy. Although fewer men were nvicted of homosexualy and punished the Victorian age, s backward thkg laid the foundatns for gay men and women to be ostracized and punished the 20th century. Read allA perd edy followg the pas of Lord Regald and Lady Vansa Favershum, a gay man and lbian woman a marriage of nvenience that allows them to hi their proclivi om society while dulgg them private.

A perd edy followg the pas of Lord Regald and Lady Vansa Favershum, a gay man and lbian woman a marriage of nvenience that allows them to hi their proclivi om society while dulgg them productn, box office & pany Episos4PhotosBe the first to reviewContribute to this pageSuggt an ed or add missg ntentBy what name was A Gay Victorian Affair (2018) officially released Canada English?

A GAY VICTORIAN AFFAIR

In 1890 philosopher and psychologist William Jam went so far as to theorize that while the male repulsn of homosexualy is stctive, cultur which homosexualy is regularly practiced and his view tolerated, mt have only been achieved by overg the “natural” aversn through force of hab. Durg this perd self proclaimed sexologists Richard von Kraft-Ebg and Havelock Ellis are said to have pneered the would-be scientific study of sexualy and created tegori for homosexualy and heterosexualy. Holly Furnex of the Universy of London has argued that the homo social nature of Victorian society acmodated a wi range of queer sir as well as non-maral and non-reproductive impuls.

In the Uned Stat Thomas Jefferson proposed a law Virgia that would have ma sodomy punishable by stratn, which was nsired a liberal approach nsirg that the practice had been to put those acced of homosexual behavr to be put to ath. Image ptn, Claire Pickerg Wakefield library imag the diary wrer speakg a Yorkshire accentA diary wrten by a Yorkshire farmer more than 200 years ago is beg hailed as providg remarkable evince of tolerance towards homosexualy Bra much earlier than prevly imaged. Historians om Oxford Universy have been taken aback to disver that Matthew Tomlson's diary om 1810 ntas such open-md views about same-sex attractn beg a "natural" human diary challeng prenceptns about what "ordary people" thought about homosexualy - showg there was a bate about whether someone really should be discrimated agast for their sexualy.

"In this excg new disvery, we see a Yorkshire farmer argug that homosexualy is nate and somethg that shouldn't be punished by ath, " says Oxford rearcher Eamonn O' ptn, The diari were handwrten by Tomlson the farmhoe where he lived and workedThe historian had been examg Tomlson's handwrten diari, which have been stored Wakefield Library sce the thoands of pag of the private journals have never been transcribed and prevly ed by rearchers terted Tomlson's eye-wns acunts of electns Yorkshire and the Ludd smashg up O'Keeffe me across what seemed, for the era of Gee III, to be a rather startlg set of arguments about same-sex relatnships. Tomlson had been prompted by what had been a big sex sndal of the day - which a well-rpected naval surgeon had been found to be engagg homosexual ptn, Historian Eamonn O'Keeffe says the diari provi a rare sight to the views of "ordary people" the early 1800sA urt martial had orred him to be hanged - but Tomlson seemed unnvced by the cisn, qutng whether what the papers lled an "unnatural act" was really that unnatural.

THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY

"It mt seem strange ed that God Almighty should make a beg wh such a nature, or such a fect nature; and at the same time make a cree that if that beg whom he had formed, should at any time follow the dictat of that Nature, wh which he was formed, he should be punished wh ath, " he wrote on January 14 there was an "clatn and propensy" for someone to be homosexual om an early age, he wrote, " mt then be nsired as natural, otherwise as a fect nature - and if natural, or a fect nature; seems cel to punish that fect wh ath" diarist mak reference to beg rmed by others that homosexualy is apparent om an early age - suggtg that Tomlson and his social circle had been talkg about this se and discsg somethg that was not unknown to this time, and also Wt Yorkshire, a lol landowner, Anne Lister, was wrg a d diary about her lbian relatnships - wh her story told the televisn seri, Gentleman knowg what "ordary people" really thought about such behavur is always difficult - not least bee the loust survivg voic are ually the wealthy and has exced amics is the chance to eavdrop on an everyday farmer thkg aloud his source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Tomlson was appalled by the levels of rptn durg electns"What's strikg is that he's an ordary guy, he's not a member of the bohemian circl or an tellectual, " says O'Keeffe, a doctoral stunt Oxford's history acceptance of homosexualy might have been exprsed privately aristocratic or philosophilly radil circl - but this was beg discsed by a ral worker.

NEWLY PUBLISHED PORTRAS DOCUMENT A CENTURY OF GAY MEN LOVE

O'Keeffe says shows ias were "perlatg through Brish society much earlier and more wily than we'd expect" - wh the diary workg through the bat that Tomlson might have been havg wh his the were still far om morn liberal views - and O'Keeffe says they n be extremely "jarrg" someone was homosexual by choice, rather than by nature, Tomlson was ready to nsir that they should still be punished - proposg stratn as a more morate optn than the ath ptn, Tomlson's former home was still there the 1930s (bottom left), but has sce disappeared beneath hog and a golf urseO'Keeffe says disverg evince of the kds of bate has both "enriched and plited" what we know about public opn this pre-Victorian diary is raisg ternatnal Fara Dabhoiwala, om Prceton Universy the US, an expert the history of attus towards sexualy, scrib as "vivid proof" that "historil attus to same-sex behavur uld be more sympathetic than is ually prumed".

A PEEK UNR THE TOWEL: INSI THE 500-YEAR HISTORY OF GAY BATHHO

Instead of seeg homosexualy as a "horrible perversn", Prof Dabholwala says the rerd showed a farmer 1810 uld see as a "natural, dively ordaed human qualy" Norton, an expert gay history, said there had been earlier arguments fendg homosexualy as natural - but the were more likely to be om philosophers than farmers. In his own words, he felt “pafully isolated, strand between the sual homophobia of most ‘normal’ people and the flagrantly gay Hollywood subculture – where [he] was even ls fortable and ls accepted.

Gaynor and Adrian were succsful durg a time when any sort of evince of their homosexualy would have hurt their reers, so ’s not surprisg that there isn’t ncrete evince about the tth of their relatnship.

‘COULDN’T BELIEVE I WAS SEEG ’: HOME MOVI OFFER RARE GLIMPSE OF GAY LIFE ST. LOUIS 1945

Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love. 'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022.

GAY CONVERSN THERAPY’S DISTURBG 19TH-CENTURY ORIGS

Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife. The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage". So if you're lookg to get your seasonal swoon on durg the long holiday weekend, then fd your clost fatg uch and grab a few tissu, bee 's about to get very romantic -- and gay -- here.

Gay men were monly seen by society as perverts who had chosen their sexualy, or as diseased dividuals whose sexualy was ed by their upbrgg and blogy, and not somethg they were born wh. Also known as The Rellectns of a Maryanne, The Ss of the Ci of the Pla is a pneerg work of gay erotic fictn chroniclg the experienc of a rent-boy—a “Maryanne” (19th Century slang for a homosexual).

As historil book ‘The Ss of Jack Sl’, about notor Victorian-era rent boy Dubl Jack, whose self-claratn as a ‘sodome’ shocked late 19th century London, gets ready to h the London stage the form of a brand new play, wrer Glenn Chandler reveals more about this sndalo slice of gay history…. He achieved that reputatn bee of five mut of fame on 15 January 1890 when he went to the wns box at the Old Bailey and admted beg a ‘sodome’, one of few words available to a gay man at the time.

GAY MEN POSTERS AND ART PRTS

Scholars of the era and of gay history have wrtled wh that nundm, even suggtg that ‘Jack Sl’ might not have existed, that the name was a psdonym, that the young man who later got up urt had read the book and adopted the name.

” It offers a rare glimpse to a largely visible world, a time when same-sex relatnships were not only looked at as immoral — they were a gay man, Story is fascated by the brtle, flickerg scen that clu a uniformed World War II soldier kissg another man.