The secret history of gay marriage |

Contents:

• SEARCH FOR A GAY UPLE WHO GOT MARRIED THE 1950S BUT NEVER GOT THEIR PHOTOS
• WHEN HOLLYWOOD STUDS MARRIED OFF GAY STARS TO KEEP THEIR SEXUALY A SECRET
• THE SECRET HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE
• TAG ARCHIV: 1950S GAY WEDDG
• THE MYSTERY OF THE GAY WEDDG PHOTOS

SEARCH FOR A GAY UPLE WHO GOT MARRIED THE 1950S BUT NEVER GOT THEIR PHOTOS

The happs was etched on fac of the two grooms holdg hands durg their vows, as they ceremonly cut the ke, shared their first kiss, opened prents and danced wh while the ocsn was joyo, the shadow of 1950s Ameri, where gay rights were unregnized and legal same-sex marriage was many s away, was prent. 'The most important thg is that gay people have refed to be visible, ' said Skiba.

' The Wisns senator's homosexual wch hunt led to the firg of thoands of ernment employe based on their sexual preference. Fledglg gay and lbian rights anizatns, such as the Mattache Society and the Dghters of Bilis, began to anize and be more proactive  exprsg their voice.

Communism and the Cold War wh the then Soviet Unn led to both the 'Red Sre' - the hunt for Communists - and the 'Lavenr Sre, ' which was those who were gay and lbian were fired om their jobs the ernment bee they were 'secury risks. ' Above, the tradnal openg of prents after the ceremony The gay rights movement was talyzed after the Stonewall Rts of 1969. ' Above, the uple wh their iends 'The moment we saw the photographs we were eply moved by the bravery of the men who, spe sodomy laws at the time chose to document their love, ' said Hollywood producer Neal Baer, who is currently velopg a seri on the topic tled The Mystery of the 1957 Gay Weddg Photos.

WHEN HOLLYWOOD STUDS MARRIED OFF GAY STARS TO KEEP THEIR SEXUALY A SECRET

The gay rights movement officially galvanized 1969 when the Stonewall Rts broke out at New York Cy after the police nducted an early morng raid of the tablishment that long served as a sanctuary for the LGBT muny durg the endls wter of opprsn and discrimatn. In the immediate wake of the protts, the gay muny formed the Gay Liberatn Front – the drivg force that would eventually lead to triumphs of the gay rights years, stat would slowly beg to follow Illois' lead wh steps toward the crimalizatn of gay relatnships but the penalti for vlatg a sodomy laws varied between jurisdictns.

Above, a uple danc Long before the crimalizatn of homosexualy the Uned Stat, Thomas Jefferson proposed a bill to the Virgia State Legislature 1779 that ma homosexualy a crime punishable wh stratn. Queerns uld be appreciated on stage, but the every day liv of major stars was often hidn sham unns known as "lavenr marriag, " acrdg to Stephen Tropiano, profsor of Screen Studi at Itha College and thor of The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lbians on marriag were arranged by Hollywood studs between one or more gay, lbian or bisexual people orr to hi their sexual orientatn om the public. They date back to the early 20th century and rried on past the gay liberatn movement of the 1960s.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF GAY MARRIAGE

Bowers’ acunt tails sexual enunters, gay and straight, that he claims he both arranged and took part , begng wrote that he had been sexually volved wh leadg actor Cary Grant and his roommate, Randolph Stt, for more than a .

They married 1955 and separated two years later, after mors of his homosexualy and fily began to pile up.

TAG ARCHIV: 1950S GAY WEDDG

Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagRock Hudson and his bri Phyllis Gat at their 1955 gay actors chose to live openly, spe the risk.

He’s now often nsired one of Hollywood’s first openly gay stars. Lavenr marriag beme ls prevalent the 1960s and ‘70s as the gay rights movement gaed momentum followg the Stonewall Rts of 1969. Although reprentatn film and on televisn was still srce, the actual liv of the stars on screen—straight, gay or bisexual—weren’t dictated by studs as much as they had been the past.

Like upl before them, gay men and lbians found they uld e their weddgs to make a statement about the world and the place of their relatnship . Digned to reflect an alternative approach to love and marriage, “The Weddg, ” part of the 1987 March on Washgton for Gay and Lbian Rights, rejected the narrow fn of marriage that limed the relatnship to members of the oppose sex.

THE MYSTERY OF THE GAY WEDDG PHOTOS

Gay muny lears emphasized the polil ponent of the celebratn. Courageoly displayg their dividual love and their membership a muny of likemd gay men and lbians, “Weddg” participants did not mand a social cln marked by assiatn or guard emotns. Reverend Troy Perry, a mister evicted om the Pentestal Church of God for his own homosexualy and founr of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolan Communy Church, spoke to this sire for openns and acceptance as he rallied his ngregants wh a shout of “Out of the closets and to the chapels!

As for “The Weddg” participants (posed of more male than female upl, suggtg an ongog disfort wh weddgs and marriage among polilly active femists), they exprsed warm praise for the celebratn, as well as a sense of anger that any members of the gay or lbian muny would cricize their cisn to wed. 8 In the years followg the celebratn of “The Weddg, ” gay men and lbians exprsed a blend of tentns and motivatns wh their celebratns.

Even though a gay uple might purchase a ke topper that featured two grooms, the uple still purchased a ke topper. Homosexuals created a subculture which their sir and liftyl were accepted, but mastream Amerin culture marked homosexualy as viant.