A Glimpse of Gay Pri the 1950s

Contents:

• 7 REASONS WHY MY BEG GAY AND OVER 50 IS TRAGIC, ACRDG TO EVERYONE ELSE
• A GLIMPSE OF GAY PRI THE 1950S
• THE GAY MAN'S GUI TO DATG AFTER 50
• THE CURSE OF AN ATTRACTN TO OLR GAY MEN
• THEY LIVED A 'DOUBLE LIFE' FOR S. NOW, THE GAY ELRS ARE TELLG THEIR STORI.
• AT 60 YEARS OLD, I BEME VISIBLE. GETTG OLD AS A GAY MAN STKS.
• L.A. AFFAIRS: I WAS 55, GAY AND WORRIED: WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO DATE ME?

7 REASONS WHY MY BEG GAY AND OVER 50 IS TRAGIC, ACRDG TO EVERYONE ELSE

Never md gettg turned down for a wrg job I ially created (they gave to an unrwear mol who don’t wre), I’ve learned that, gay world, my creativy should have end about the time many of my iends’ liv did. I’m unr-reprented gay-themed films and TV shows, and prt publitns don’t seem to know that I exist. If someone don’t know about Boy Gee g out on TV or Tth or Dare’s gay kiss or the AIDS quilt, then sffs off as “an age thg, ” they are lerally sayg that ignorance is preferable to knowledge.

There’s nothg I love more then when young gay men ask me about LGBT life the 80s, and I’m thrilled I n tell them about the ups and downs. My own favore sentimental gay-old story?

He died after passg on a treasure trove of gay history. Who would have thought the notn of marriage beg the measure of te happs would bee a gay norm?

A GLIMPSE OF GAY PRI THE 1950S

One such muny was Cherry Grove, which is the subject of an exhibn at the New-York Historil Society tled Safe/Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove. As a trans woman, I fely felt like I was not prent Cherry Grove at that time, but gay men and women were there, rvg out space that I get to hab today.

Soon the “theater people” would start to formulate a strong muny where people were able to be openly gay; they uld cross-drs and play wh genr mak the photos so wonrful is that they are very rare.

Simply havg photos veloped that reflected homosexualy uld get you arrted. We have a lot of lost history that was thrown away, so the photos om the archiv add so much to our knowledge of what gay life was like.

THE GAY MAN'S GUI TO DATG AFTER 50

The people are iendly, and we have always been on the ont of LGBTQ+ rights and fightg for eedom to be out and the 1950s, there was no nng water and no electricy, but gay men and women were happy to be roughg bee they were ee to be themselv. If you were gay the cy, you went to the dark and dgy bars, which were n by the Mafia, and at any time uld be raid by the police and you uld be Cherry Grove, the police would leave on the last ferry to the maland at midnight, allowg same-sex dancg and open exprsns of affectn to occur the lol bars and rtrants. Each year, thoands of people e together to drs up and celebrate Inpennce Day the gayt way possible … wh hundreds of drag queens on a ferry returng to the P to keep the tradn gog.

THE CURSE OF AN ATTRACTN TO OLR GAY MEN

When muny members Cherry Grove would pass away, their straight fay members would clean out their ho to sell bee they did not want to live a “gay town. The fay members often threw out any evince of their gay uncl or s. When we saw the photos om Seeley's llectn, we saw that was addg somethg to the lexin of gay life.

Whenever people show somethg a documentary or a book, most of the photos of gay life start at Stonewall and go on om there. We feel lucky that the NYHS saw the value gay history, bee not everyone the Stonewall Mm, most of the patrons are queer. ONE Natnal Gay & Lbian Archiv at the Universy of Southern California Librari, the largt reposory of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer materials the world, shared a heartwarmg uple of photos wh Time of two gay men showg affectn a photo booth durg the early 1950s honor of LGBT Pri public displays of affectn by same-sex upl are monplace today, the fact that this picture was taken 1953 - a time when LGBT people uld be arrted for simply holdg hands wh someone of the same sex - mak a powerful and betiful image monstratg the spir of LGBT Pri.

Neher is datg at midlife — pecially if you're a gay man.

THEY LIVED A 'DOUBLE LIFE' FOR S. NOW, THE GAY ELRS ARE TELLG THEIR STORI.

Right, gay datg isn't easy.

You're never too old to fd love, but that's not a msage gay men hear very often.

AT 60 YEARS OLD, I BEME VISIBLE. GETTG OLD AS A GAY MAN STKS.

The gay muny's — OK, let's get real, mostly the gay male muny's — ageism. "Wh the gay muny, negative stereotyp rerce the belief that gay relatnships are based solely on physil attractn, and that once youth starts to fa, we are unlikely to have any real or lastg relatnships, " says Rik Isensee, thor of Are You Ready?

The Gay Man's Gui to Thrivg at Midlife.

L.A. AFFAIRS: I WAS 55, GAY AND WORRIED: WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO DATE ME?

For every 20-somethg enterg the gay datg scene full of wi-eyed wonr, there's a 50-somethg (or a 60-, 70- or olr-somethg) man back on the market after a relatnship ends.