But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century - The Atlantic</tle><meta name="scriptn" ntent="The Atlantic vers news, polics, culture, technology, health, and more, through s articl, podsts, vios, and flagship magaze."/><meta property="kx:tle" ntent="But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century - The Atlantic"/><meta property="kx:scriptn" ntent="The Atlantic vers news, polics, culture, technology, health, and more, through s articl, podsts, vios, and flagship magaze."/><lk rel="nonil" href="><lk rel="image_src" href="><meta name="thor" ntent="Jennie Rothenberg Grz"/><lk rel="ia:markup_url" href="><meta property="article:publisher" ntent="><meta property="article:opn" ntent="false"/><meta property="article:ntent_tier" ntent="metered"/><meta property="article:tag" ntent="natnal"/><meta property="article:sectn" ntent="U.S."/><meta property="article:published_time" ntent="2012-09-07T20:35:01Z"/><meta property="article:modified_time" ntent="2012-09-07T23:36:55Z"/><meta name="robots" ntent="x, follow, max-image-preview:large"/><meta property="og:tle" ntent="But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century"/><meta property="og:scriptn" ntent="It was a time of "Boston marriag" between women and passnate iendships between men. But what happened behd closed doors is anybody's gus."/><meta property="og:url" ntent="><meta property="og:type" ntent="article"/><meta property="og:image"/><meta property="twter:rd" ntent="summary_large_image"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="The Atlantic" href="/feed/all/"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="Bt of The Atlantic" href="/feed/bt-of/"/><meta name="referrer" ntent="unsafe-url"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-pable" ntent="y"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-stat-bar-style" ntent="black"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-tle" ntent="The Atlantic"/><meta name="keywords" ntent="Sarah Orne Jewett, Walt Whman, same-sex timacy Whman, Orne Jewett Hoe, passnate same-sex iendships, censor Whman, John Addgton Symonds, Abraham Lln, Boston marriag, closed doors" emID="#keywords"/><meta name="news_keywords" ntent="Sarah Orne Jewett, Walt Whman, same-sex timacy Whman, Orne Jewett Hoe, passnate same-sex iendships, censor Whman, John Addgton Symonds, Abraham Lln, Boston marriag, closed doors"/><meta name="" ntent="natnal"/><meta name="" ntent="Jennie Rothenberg Grz"/><meta name="" ntent="2012-09-07T20:35:01Z"/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><script type="applitn/ld+json">{"@ntext":","@type":"NewsArticle","headle":"But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century","alternativeHeadle":"But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century","url":","datePublished":"2012-09-07T20:35:01Z","dateModified":"2012-09-07T23:36:55Z","isAccsibleForFree":false,"hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccsibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".article-ntent-body"},"publisher":{"@id":"},"maEntyOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"},"thor":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennie Rothenberg Grz","sameAs":"}],"articleSectn":"U.S."}</script><meta name="next-head-unt" ntent="60"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-g=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><noscript data-n-css=""></noscript><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/></head><body><div id="__next"><div data-tegory="story page"><div></div><nav class="Nav_root___6bX9" aria-labelledby="se-navigatn" data-tegory="Se Nav" data-event-module="se nav" id="ma-navigatn"><div class="Nav_maNav__yofcm"><a href="#ma-ntent" class="Nav_skipLk__Evjjd">Skip to ntent</a><h2 id="se-navigatn" class="Nav_visuallyHi__AbSDF">Se Navigatn</h2><div class="Nav_flexContaer__Q3LKQ"><ul class="Nav_leftContaer__cPQgJ"><li class="Nav_navListItem__cEyWT Nav_visuallyHiOnMobile__hxCGG"><a href=" class="Nav_navLk__5SUAA"><svg xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 87.83 134" class="Nav_bigA__XvGGC"><tle>The Atlantic

gay life in 1800s

Contents:

BUT WERE THEY GAY? THE MYSTERY OF SAME-SEX LOVE THE 19TH CENTURY

"Walt Whman and Gay Liberatn are nearly synonymo for me, " wrote cultural historian Rictor Norton a 1999 say. "It's hard to image any morn poet wrg about lyg another man's arms and then llg homosexualy "damnable. ""The thg we don't know about any of the people, " says Peggy Wishart, "is the qutn most morn people have: Were they gay?

" By 1911, there was enough awarens of homosexualy that when Fields pulled together a posthumo volume of Jewett's letters, edor Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe urged her to censor out the pet nam.

PHOTOGRAPHS REVEAL EVERYDAY LIFE OF GAY UPL THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

But as Reynolds says, "It's absolutely wrong to impose today's versn of homosexualy on Whman or Jewett. Portras of pri: Touchg photographs reveal everyday life of gay upl the early 20th Century - before the closet door opened French screenwrer Sébastien Lifshz spent 20 years llectg photos om flea markets and garage salThey proudly portray alternative sexualy the U. And Europe at a time when many had to hi their te feelgs'The need to keep a memory of their love was stronger than the disapproval of neighbourhood photo lab', he said Published: 12:46 BST, 29 June 2014 | Updated: 14:47 BST, 30 June 2014 Advertisement It seems ordary enough - a photo album of upl exchangg everyday affectn their garns, their kchens, bed and the what mak the imag so touchg is that the upl were almost certaly gay, at a time when to be so was illegal many parts of the wtern screenwrer Sébastien Lifshz took more than 20 years to amass his llectn om flea markets and garage sal, where he beme fascated wh the reee happs of people who were often outsts society.

GAY CULTURE 19TH CENTURY NEW YORK CY

Careee: French screenwrer Sébastien Lifshz spent more than 20 years llectg hundreds of photos om flea markets and garage sal which portrayed gay upl their everyday liv - at a time when what they did behd closed doors was illegal. Mr Lifshz said he was fascated by their wealth of love and affectn Ambiguo: Bee he never knew the upl himself, Mr Lifshz uld not be sure if they were gay, bisexual or transgenr, or simply revellg sexual eedom Bee he never knew the upl himself, he uld not be sure if they were gay, bisexual or transgenr, or simply revellg sexual ambiguy and eedom. 'What astonished me was that their middle-class appearance didn’t match the act: the act of producg an image of homosexual love at a time when discretn was the norm, ' he said.

Homosexualy remaed illegal Bra until 1967, and was only classified as an illns the U. 'Gay upl had plenty of reasons to be discreet the early 1900s.

Homosexualy remaed illegal Bra until 1967, and was only classified as a mental illns the U. Durg the “Pansy Craze” om the 1920s until 1933, people the lbian, gay, bi, trans and queer (LGBTQ) muny were performg on stag ci around the world, and New York Cy’s Greenwich Village, Tim Square and Harlem held some of the most world-renowned drag performanc of the time.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY LIFE IN 1800S

But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century - The Atlantic</tle><meta name="scriptn" ntent="The Atlantic vers news, polics, culture, technology, health, and more, through s articl, podsts, vios, and flagship magaze."/><meta property="kx:tle" ntent="But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century - The Atlantic"/><meta property="kx:scriptn" ntent="The Atlantic vers news, polics, culture, technology, health, and more, through s articl, podsts, vios, and flagship magaze."/><lk rel="nonil" href="><lk rel="image_src" href="><meta name="thor" ntent="Jennie Rothenberg Grz"/><lk rel="ia:markup_url" href="><meta property="article:publisher" ntent="><meta property="article:opn" ntent="false"/><meta property="article:ntent_tier" ntent="metered"/><meta property="article:tag" ntent="natnal"/><meta property="article:sectn" ntent="U.S."/><meta property="article:published_time" ntent="2012-09-07T20:35:01Z"/><meta property="article:modified_time" ntent="2012-09-07T23:36:55Z"/><meta name="robots" ntent="x, follow, max-image-preview:large"/><meta property="og:tle" ntent="But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century"/><meta property="og:scriptn" ntent="It was a time of "Boston marriag" between women and passnate iendships between men. But what happened behd closed doors is anybody's gus."/><meta property="og:url" ntent="><meta property="og:type" ntent="article"/><meta property="og:image"/><meta property="twter:rd" ntent="summary_large_image"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="The Atlantic" href="/feed/all/"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="Bt of The Atlantic" href="/feed/bt-of/"/><meta name="referrer" ntent="unsafe-url"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-pable" ntent="y"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-stat-bar-style" ntent="black"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-tle" ntent="The Atlantic"/><meta name="keywords" ntent="Sarah Orne Jewett, Walt Whman, same-sex timacy Whman, Orne Jewett Hoe, passnate same-sex iendships, censor Whman, John Addgton Symonds, Abraham Lln, Boston marriag, closed doors" emID="#keywords"/><meta name="news_keywords" ntent="Sarah Orne Jewett, Walt Whman, same-sex timacy Whman, Orne Jewett Hoe, passnate same-sex iendships, censor Whman, John Addgton Symonds, Abraham Lln, Boston marriag, closed doors"/><meta name="" ntent="natnal"/><meta name="" ntent="Jennie Rothenberg Grz"/><meta name="" ntent="2012-09-07T20:35:01Z"/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><script type="applitn/ld+json">{"@ntext":","@type":"NewsArticle","headle":"But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century","alternativeHeadle":"But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century","url":","datePublished":"2012-09-07T20:35:01Z","dateModified":"2012-09-07T23:36:55Z","isAccsibleForFree":false,"hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccsibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".article-ntent-body"},"publisher":{"@id":"},"maEntyOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"},"thor":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennie Rothenberg Grz","sameAs":"}],"articleSectn":"U.S."}</script><meta name="next-head-unt" ntent="60"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-g=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><noscript data-n-css=""></noscript><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/></head><body><div id="__next"><div data-tegory="story page"><div></div><nav class="Nav_root___6bX9" aria-labelledby="se-navigatn" data-tegory="Se Nav" data-event-module="se nav" id="ma-navigatn"><div class="Nav_maNav__yofcm"><a href="#ma-ntent" class="Nav_skipLk__Evjjd">Skip to ntent</a><h2 id="se-navigatn" class="Nav_visuallyHi__AbSDF">Se Navigatn</h2><div class="Nav_flexContaer__Q3LKQ"><ul class="Nav_leftContaer__cPQgJ"><li class="Nav_navListItem__cEyWT Nav_visuallyHiOnMobile__hxCGG"><a href=" class="Nav_navLk__5SUAA"><svg xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 87.83 134" class="Nav_bigA__XvGGC"><tle>The Atlantic .

TOP