Gay Diary

Contents:

• THE 200-YEAR-OLD DIARY THAT'S REWRG GAY HISTORY
• JEB AND DASH: A DIARY OF GAY LIFE, 1918-1945 PAPERBACK – JANUARY 1, 1993
• PHILALPHIA GAY SEX DIARI: I HAVE TO SHAVE WHAT?!

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

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.

"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. 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". 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.

JEB AND DASH: A DIARY OF GAY LIFE, 1918-1945 PAPERBACK – JANUARY 1, 1993

Click Member lk to see se tvGay Diary + ADD YOUR SITE (72 members)A muny of gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr onle diari or random thoughts om TorontoFlamg Pop Tart's Manic Superstar Mgs Thoughts, ramblgs, securi, mgs, rants and rav om her Pop Tart Highns. Thoughts Ma Bald A gay man's quirky amalgam of the shallow and the 's space Onle diary of a young gay mic dtry worker sky will you tell me where was I when the lor-me- sky me down...

Onle journal of observatns, ments, nfsns, of a gay Londoner livg very well thank you wh HIV [email protected] What do you get when you take one 38 year old chick who lov another 38 year old chick, throw a few palm tre, the hollywood sign, some lghter, tears and fifti-morn r? We e them to provi unique and tailed rmatn about gay and bisexual men's sexual activy and the ntexts wh which occurs (though the method is equally able for heterosexual behavur).

PHILALPHIA GAY SEX DIARI: I HAVE TO SHAVE WHAT?!

Diarists are reced both as part of the Project SIGMA ongog sampl, and ocsnally by large-sle appeals the gay prs for volunteers to keep a month diary. ' The Sexual Diary as tool for mappg tailed sexual behavur, Soclogil Review, 36 (2), 353-367 (b) The Numbers Game: Gay Liftyl, Epimlogy and Social Science, P Aggleton and H Homans, eds (1988) Social Aspects of Aids, London: Falmer 1990 (a) Fal Report of Project SIGMA to the Department of Health, ch1 (b) Patterns Homosexual Relatns: The Use of the Diary Method, M Hubert, ed., Sexual Behavur and Risks of HIV Infectn, Bssels: Prse Sat Louis (�)1992 The Stcture of Sexual Behavur, Journal of Sexual Rearch, 29 (1), 61-83 (�) 1993 (a) Strategi Elicg Sensive Sexual Informatn: the se of Gay Men, Soclogil Review, 41 (3), 537-556 (�, �) (b)Sex Role Separatn Sexual Diari of Homosexual Men, Aids, 7 (6), 877-882 (�, �)1994 (a) No Connectn Between Alhol Use and Unsafe Sex Among Gay and Bisexual Men, AIDS 7(1): 115-119 (�) (b) Diari and Sexual Behavur: The Use of Sexual Diari As Method and Substance Rearchg Gay Men's Rponse to HIV/Aids (ch 9), M. Boulton, ed Methodologil Studi Aids Rearch, London: Falmer1995 (a) Networks and Sex: some social ntexts of Gay Men's Rponse to HIV/Aids, R Parker and John Gagnon, eds, Conceivg Sexualy: Approach to Sex Rearch a Postmorn World, London: Routledge (b) Risk Context: the e of sexual diary data to analyse sequenc of homosexual risk behavur, H tem Bmmelhuis and G Herdt, eds Culture and Sexual Risk: Anthropologil Perspectiv on Aids, Amsterdam: Het Sphuis1996 Between the Sheets: Sexual Diari and Gay Men's Sex the Era of Aids, London: Cassell 1999 Parallel acunts?

The extensive diary of Carter Bealer proved dispensable to unrstandg the early gay geography of Washgton, DC A Queer Capal by Genny Beemyn. Daily or regular jottgs of dividuals we might now classify as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or queer om years gone by give rare entry to worlds of sexual and genr difference that preced our own. Stuart was also vally volved early planng for the Michigan Organizatn for Human Rights, lnched 1977 rponse to Ana Bryant’s anti-gay “Save Our Children” mpaign.

Readg now, forty-pl years later, triggers other memori of the same era, stg on the porch watchg rs go by, takg a solo noe trip startg at Gaylord down the Au Sable River, g to her own. Speakg to Morng Edn -host Rachel Mart, Willis said she unrstood Lamar's tentn of "reckong wh both homophobia and transphobia, particularly wh the Black muny, " but found his executn nfg. He never lived durg any perd when homosexualy was alt wh openly, and that rpect I was really surprised how much of a gay life he was able to lead.