Classic Gay Male Lerature (207 books)

Contents:

• 25 MOST INFLUENTIAL GAY AUTHORS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
• 11 HISTORIL FIGUR YOU DIDN’T KNOW WERE GAY
• 30 FAMO GAY PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THE WORLD
• FAMO GAY PEOPLE
• CLASSIC GAY MALE LERATURE

25 MOST INFLUENTIAL GAY AUTHORS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

Bgraphers have ntually bated Whman’s sexual orientatn; his poetry, particularly Leav of Grass, which faced ser censorship after s publitn, ntas several homoerotic imag, however others argue that this was untentnal. Osr Wil (who also appears on this list), after meetg Whman 1882, was adamant that Whman was gay, and even told the activist Gee Cecil Iv, “I have the kiss of Walt Whman still on my lips. Dorian Gray was origally published Lipptt’s Monthly Magaze, and drew such harsh cricism for s pictn of “immoraly, ” (one character the novel exprs a potentially romantic fatuatn for another male character) that when was later re-published as a book, Wil toned down the novel’s homoerotic subtext.

In 1956, Baldw published Gvanni’s Room, a novel that drew tense attentn and cricism for s portrayal of homosexualy and bisexualy and is often ced as one of the most important queer novels ever wrten. Capote was openly gay, and while he was never much of an active participant the gay rights movement, the openns wh which he exprsed his inty njunctn wh his level of celebry was an important tone queer history. As a gay trans man, Sullivan was met wh obstacl to his transn, for at the time he was seekg medil attentn, heterosexualy was a crern for regnn of medil necsy for transn.

Known for his grim and often btal sense of humor, Sullivan once wrote, “I took a certa pleasure rmg the genr clic that even though their program told me I uld not live as a Gay man, looks like I’m gog to die like one. Wh same-sex marriage now legal all parts of the UK, n sometime be easy to fet how different attus to homosexualy were the past, and how much change has taken place over the past 50 years.

11 HISTORIL FIGUR YOU DIDN’T KNOW WERE GAY

For hundreds of years gay people have stggled to be accepted and treated the same as people who are not fact wasn't until 1967, that two men were able to be a relatnship together whout the fear of beg stands for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr. Sometim appears wh Q, meang queer and +, which is an clive symbol to mean 'and others' to clu people of all history month tak place Febary each year, to help te people on lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr history, as well as the history of the gay and civil rights out more about some of those who have ma an impact both om the past and prent.

Alan TurgAlan Turg was not a well known figure durg his lifetime, but today he is famo and celebrated for the ccial part he played the victory over Nazi Germany was a mathematician who cracked somethg lled the Enigma , which is thought to have shortened the war by several was also a victim of mid-20th Century attus to homosexualy and 1952 was arrted bee beg homosexual was illegal Bra at this 2013 he was pardoned for this 'crime', and 2017 the ernment agreed to officially pardon men acced of 'crim' like this, meang they will no longer have a crimal pardong has e to be known as the Alan Turg 2019 Turg was named the most "inic" figure of the 20th Century and his face now appears on the £50 note. Osr WilImage source, Napoleon Sarony/Universal History ArchiveOsr Wil is one of the famo playwrights of all time, fact, you might even have studied 'The Importance of Beg Earnt' - one of his most famo plays - at was married to a woman and had two sons, but was later acced of beg homosexual. Johnson was an Ain Amerin transgenr-rights activist, whose work the 1960s and 1970s had a huge impact on the LGBT this time, beg gay was classified as a mental illns the Uned Stat.

30 FAMO GAY PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THE WORLD

Gay people were regularly threatened and beaten by police, and were shunned by many June 1969, when Marsha was 23 years old, police raid a gay bar New York lled The Stonewall Inn.

Later the North Wt Commtee was transformed to the Campaign for Homosexual Equaly (CHE), which was the largt LGBT anisatn there has ever been the UK, wh more than 5, 000 members and 120 lol groups all over the untry when was at s 's role the removal of the stigma of crimaly om homosexualy remaed his crowng achievement. He began his reer as a journalist before workg for MI6, and beg prcipal of Aberystwyth was asked to jo the ernment's mtee lookg to homosexual offenc which led to the Wolfenn Report, which remend that havg a homosexual relatnship should no longer be a crimal laid the foundatns for a later law which partially crimalised male homosexualy for the first time England and Wal. Gilbert Baker was an Amerin artist, gay rights activist who signed the flag to have eight strip stead of the six normally seen first ma an appearance back 1978 and has bee associated wh LGBT rights all over the world.

Chris SmhImage source, Getty ImagIn 1984 Chris Smh beme the UK's first male openly gay MP and later, the first gay bet announcg that he was gay, he received a five-mute standg ovatn. There have sce been lots of other gay bet are currently 54 LGBT MPs the Hoe of Commons, and 2015 was clared the gayt parliament the world due to s proportn of LGBT members.

FAMO GAY PEOPLE

Jt FashanuImage source, Getty ImagJt Fashanu was Bra's first openly gay footballer, and although 30 years have passed he remas the only male footballer to reveal his sexualy while playg profsnally the top reer was gog well, havg risen through Norwich Cy's youth ranks and 1981 he beme the untry's most expensive black player wh his £1m move to Nottgham stunned the football world 1990 by when he told a newspaper he was gay.

But after this he didn't receive much support and suffered homophobic bullyg, as well as harassment om the tabloid died 1998 and was ducted to the Natnal Football Mm's Hall of Fame Feb 2020, wh his niece Amal Fashanu llg him "one of the bravt men I've ever e across".

In 2019 he received France's hight civilian award, the Legn d'honnr, by Print Emmanuel Macron, who lled him one of the first gay artists to give a voice to the LGBT me out as bisexual a 1976 terview wh mic magaze Rollg Stone, and 1992 said he was and his partner David Furnish were among the first upl the UK to get a civil partnership 2005, when the law was changed to allow gay relatnships to be legally 2014, after gay marriage beme legal the UK the pair got married and have two sons born via on this story.

CLASSIC GAY MALE LERATURE

Their varly humane and hilar portras of queerns and same-sex love and lt—and the everyday liv of those who experience them—are illumatg, whether you’re gay, straight, or somewhere between. Meticuloly rearched and ttly plotted, books such as The Last of the We (1956) and The Persian Boy (1972) naturalistilly pict gay love agast a vivid, betifully renred backdrop of war and polil BaldwJam BaldwUPI/Bettmann ArchiveBaldw’s semal novel Gvanni’s Room (1956), about a tragic love affair between a nfed Amerin man and his Italian boyiend Paris, unflchgly exam the societal prejudic that kept (and ntue to keep) many people om acknowledgg their sexual AokiAoki is an Amerin wrer of Japane scent who is bt known for her llectns, cludg Seasonal Veloci (2012) and Why Dt Shall Never Settle upon This Soul (2015), and her novels, cludg He Mele a Hilo (2014) and Light om Unmon Stars (2021).

Michael ChabonChabon has long had a gay followg due to his 1988 novel The Mysteri of Ptsburgh, which featur a protagonist who has both homosexual and heterosexual enunters. Armistead MpMp’s effervcent novels about gay life San Francis, startg wh Tal of the Cy (1978), brought to life a i foreign to much of the JordanJordan primarily wrote through the lens of bisexualy and racial jtice. SJ Sdu, thor of Marriage of a Thoand Li, lled , "One of the first Anglophone works to challenge the trope of the sad/suicidal gays who die at the end, this book gave a blueprt of what queer fictn uld look like.

Forster (A Passage to India, A Room Wh a View, Howards End) wrote the benchmark gay novel Mrice cir 1913, was published posthumoly a lh tale of manners, posn, and sire, the tular character meets and falls for his classmate Clive while at Oxford. The pair embark on a two-year affair until Clive leav Mrice to marry a woman and live out his proscribed life as part of the land gentry, leavg Mrice shambl and seekg to cure his Forster's novel do not end gay tragedy. Alan Hollghurst famoly qutned the future of the gay novel this year, which is strikg sce he's often viewed as helpg make queer books accsible to a mastream dience.