Secret Cy: behd the untold gay history of DC polics | Books | The Guardian

Contents:

• THE HIDN GAY LIV FALLY BEG UNVERED
• THE SECRET HISTORY OF ATRALIA'S GAY DIGGERS
• THE OLST GAYS HISTORY
• THE SECRET GAY HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPTHOMOSEXUALY AND ANCIENT EGYPT: A COMPLITED RELATNSHIP.SAL·FOLLOWPUBLISHED LSONS OM HISTORY·5 M READ·APR 8, 2021--1SHAREPHOTO CREDS: GNOME STEWANCIENT EGYPT IS UALLY ASSOCIATED WH MARVELO TOMBS FILLED WH GOLD, MAGNIFICENT STCTUR THE FORM OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDS AND THE LG DYNASTI, AND PHARAOHS. HOWEVER, THIS ANCIENT YET GREAT CIVILIZATN WAS SIAR TO MANY OTHER STAT TODAY WHEN TO HOMOSEXUALY: WAS SEEN AS UNNATURAL AND NOT ACCEPTED SOCIETY.WHILE THERE IS MUCH EVINCE THAT TTIFI THAT HOMOSEXUALY WAS NOT THE NORM, THERE ARE OTHER SPECULATNS THAT S REMNANTS WERE FOUND EVEN AT THE HIGHT STRATA OF THE SOCIAL LADR WH ANCIENT EGYPT. EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE SRCE, THE CLU DO NOT STOP HISTORIANS OM GGG THE PREVALENCE OF HOMOSEXUALY. FROM THE HOLY BOOKS THAT TALK ABOUT HOMOSEXUALY TO THE POTENTIAL PRACTICE OF BY AN EGYPTIAN EMPEROR, THIS IS A LOOK AT HOMOSEXUALY ANCIENT EGYPT.THE CUR CASE OF NIANKHKHNUM AND KHNUMHOTEP
• SECRET CY: BEHD THE UNTOLD GAY HISTORY OF DC POLICS
• WHAT MA WASHGTON, D.C., THE “GAYT AND MOST ANTIGAY CY AMERI”
• ‘THE REAL VILLA IS THE CLOSET’: A NEW HISTORY OF GAY WASHGTON DEALS WH SOCIETY AS IT TLY WAS
• RACG TO PRERVE THE HISTORY OF MAE’S 1ST GAY RIGHTS ANIZATN
• HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI
• THE FOTTEN SECRET LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

THE HIDN GAY LIV FALLY BEG UNVERED

But when I heard people ravg about the show, wrten by Rsell T Davi, I was stck by how many of them admted to knowg ltle about the epimic – and the stctn wreaked among the gay muny. For a long time, the mastream public didn't want to hear our Ca's The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle tells the story of a secretly gay postman searchg for a lost love om his youth (Cred: Headle Review)"I would venture to say that the public were disgted and outraged, " says thor Crystal Jeans. It's about a lonely, socially awkward and secretly gay postman livg a fictnal town the north of England who hs retirement, realisg he wants to turn his life around and fally be happy – but to do this, he needs to fd the love of his life, a man he hasn’t seen for nearly 50 years.

That same year, the so-lled "Alan Turg law" offered pardons to 49, 000 Brish gay men who’d been nvicted of homosexual acts – followg a mpaign arguably bolstered by the greater awarens brought about by The Imatn Game, the h film that picted the nvictn and chemil stratn of the Enigma-breakg puter scientist. You’d not tch many queer al mers jottg down their memoirs – Crystal JeansHowever, 's fictn that’s very much drivg the phenomenon of brgg "lost" stori of gay life om the past to light.

Over the last five years, a tr of Irish wrers have livered stunng gay-themed novels set predomantly perds of history that didn't wele them – John Boyne (The Heart’s Invisible Furi), Graham Norton (Home Stretch), and Sebastian Barry (the Costa Award-wng Days Whout End).

THE SECRET HISTORY OF ATRALIA'S GAY DIGGERS

In the theatre, Matthew Lopez's exploratn of gay male history The Inherance triumphed London before transferrg to New York, where opened the year after a well-received revival of Mart Crowley's semal 1968 play Boys the Band. Most recently, the ter explod wh behd-the-scen photos of Harry Styl om the shoot of new film My Policeman, an adaptatn of Bethan Roberts's 2012 novel starrg the pop superstar as a closeted gay man the 1950s. However, as a way of explag the mystery surroundg why Harry left behd everythg he knew, Gale imaged a suatn which he was forced to leave as a rult of a gay affair beg exposed.

This was another reason I wrote The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle; I wanted to tell the story of one ordary young gay man tryg to exprs his love for another at a time when this would not have been accepted. But I also wanted to ntrast this disturbg, sometim horrifyg picture wh what life n be like for a gay man wh today’s much more acceptg society the UK – and celebrate how much progrs we’ve ma.

My spiratn was a seri of terviews I nducted wh olr gay men whilst I was Edor--Chief of Attu magaze, as part of our celebratn of the 50th anniversary of the start of crimalisatn. Pop star Harry Styl is starrg new film My Policeman as a closeted gay officer the 1950s (Cred: Getty Imag)"What we see all through history is that people are nied their past as part of a way to ntrol them, " says Hornby.

THE OLST GAYS HISTORY

Published May 22, 2022Updated May 23, 2022When you purchase an penntly reviewed book through our se, we earn an affiliate CITYThe Hidn History of Gay WashgtonBy Jam Kirchick826 pag. )And yet the very skills gay people had to velop to survive — studns, partmentalizatn, discretn, erancy — ma them uniquely skilled, Kirchick pots out, to sensive tasks like pnage or high-level advisg. Fil, rrponnce, terview transcripts and prs clippgs — you n almost hear the old microfiche sheets tickg by — Kirchick holds the most dited persecutors, some of whom were themselv the closet, to sthg Morigi“Even at the height of the Cold War, was safer to be a Communist than a homosexual, ” he wr.

THE SECRET GAY HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPTHOMOSEXUALY AND ANCIENT EGYPT: A COMPLITED RELATNSHIP.SAL·FOLLOWPUBLISHED LSONS OM HISTORY·5 M READ·APR 8, 2021--1SHAREPHOTO CREDS: GNOME STEWANCIENT EGYPT IS UALLY ASSOCIATED WH MARVELO TOMBS FILLED WH GOLD, MAGNIFICENT STCTUR THE FORM OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDS AND THE LG DYNASTI, AND PHARAOHS. HOWEVER, THIS ANCIENT YET GREAT CIVILIZATN WAS SIAR TO MANY OTHER STAT TODAY WHEN TO HOMOSEXUALY: WAS SEEN AS UNNATURAL AND NOT ACCEPTED SOCIETY.WHILE THERE IS MUCH EVINCE THAT TTIFI THAT HOMOSEXUALY WAS NOT THE NORM, THERE ARE OTHER SPECULATNS THAT S REMNANTS WERE FOUND EVEN AT THE HIGHT STRATA OF THE SOCIAL LADR WH ANCIENT EGYPT. EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE SRCE, THE CLU DO NOT STOP HISTORIANS OM GGG THE PREVALENCE OF HOMOSEXUALY. FROM THE HOLY BOOKS THAT TALK ABOUT HOMOSEXUALY TO THE POTENTIAL PRACTICE OF BY AN EGYPTIAN EMPEROR, THIS IS A LOOK AT HOMOSEXUALY ANCIENT EGYPT.THE CUR CASE OF NIANKHKHNUM AND KHNUMHOTEP

” Later, as tolerance grew (thanks part to the efforts of the Mattache Society, the gay rights anizatn whose evolutn is traced here), some nfirmed bachelors took the important seat once occupied by Perle Mta, the cy’s famed “hosts wh the mosts.

Kirchick wr of Nancy Reagan: “Her own persona is pably, irreprsibly gay, embodied by the retue that signed, drsed, rted, entertaed, flattered, hoed, humored, pampered, styled and tillated her. It would be bt read at the vlet hour wh a snifter of brandy a wood-paneled library, one of those wh a rollg ladr to brg down some of the fad midcentury bt-sellers rurfaced the pag, like Vidal’s “The Cy and the Pillar” — the narrative perks up nsirably whenever this ntent, urbane wrer arriv on the premis — “Washgton Confintial, ” by Jack La and Lee Mortimer (1951), wh s fabled “Garn of Pansi”; and “Advise and Consent, ” by Allen Dry (1959), which won a Pulzer and was ma to a movie by Otto ’s also a Baeker of important plac (map clud): the rollickg Chicken Hut bar where Teboe met his murrers; the “F Loop” of the Dupont Circle pickup scene that veloped the 1960s; the Cema Folli, the pornographic theater where ne men died a 1977 fire; the “gay rner” of the Congrsnal Cemetery; and, more hopefully, the Lambda Risg is overwhelmgly a gallery of the whe male gaytriarchy, wh lbians and people of lor mostly on the sil. They were om the Gay Ex-Servic Associatn, and they rried a wreath dited to ‘all brothers and sisters who died durg the wars’—but they would never get to lay at the shre.

SECRET CY: BEHD THE UNTOLD GAY HISTORY OF DC POLICS

“There were thoands of ex-servicemen who were mp, I thk I went through 300 of them myself, ” he told the magaze, a py of which is prerved by the Atralian Lbian and Gay Archiv. “The irony, of urse, was that they end up an all-male environment wh limed opportuny for female pany – the potential for homo-sex had never been greater, ” Smaal says.

“It was amazg the number of gay people the POW mp, ” the Atralian serviceman told Outrage, “well not so much gay as bisexual – bee they uldn’t get a woman they’d have a man. The gay Jewish doctor – who was later exiled by the Nazis – wrote of how German soldiers would risk severe reprimand to sneak off to the lols’ ho occupied France to have sex. Rearch by Smaal and his lleague, renowned Atralian LGBT+ historian Graham Willett, found that the US reported to Atralia that they had disvered a large number of servicemen New Guea havg gay sex – and that Atralians were volved.

WHAT MA WASHGTON, D.C., THE “GAYT AND MOST ANTIGAY CY AMERI”

But they did not have a rigid nventn of sexualy as eher heterosexual or homosexual, and, at least at certa tim, and certa strata, may have tolerated and even celebrated same-sex love. Homosexualy and Ancient Egypt: A Complited Creds: Gnome StewAncient Egypt is ually associated wh marvelo tombs filled wh gold, magnificent stctur the form of the Great Pyramids and the lg dynasti, and Pharaohs. However, this ancient yet great civilizatn was siar to many other stat today when to homosexualy: was seen as unnatural and not accepted there is much evince that ttifi that homosexualy was not the norm, there are other speculatns that s remnants were found even at the hight strata of the social ladr wh Ancient Egypt.

‘THE REAL VILLA IS THE CLOSET’: A NEW HISTORY OF GAY WASHGTON DEALS WH SOCIETY AS IT TLY WAS

From the Holy Books that talk about homosexualy to the potential practice of by an Egyptian emperor, this is a look at homosexualy Ancient Cur Case of Niankhkhnum and KhnumhotepPhoto Creds: PtertNiankhkhnum and Khnumhotep were two men that lived at the time Nierre was a Pharaoh. They are most notably known for their burial and pictn a picture where historians speculated that they were homosexuals who lived hidn liv, secretly love wh each other. Even though both of the men had wiv and, surprisgly, even children, their fai cid to bury them most nvcg evince, and the most popular one, of them beg gay is the patg their tombs where they stand very close to each other, their nose touchg and both of them almost embracg each other.

RACG TO PRERVE THE HISTORY OF MAE’S 1ST GAY RIGHTS ANIZATN

This is te of Amerin polics, where the 20th century saw numero gay and lbian dividuals participatg at the hight levels of power, yet almost wholly effaced om the tellg of our natn’s history.

In the new book Secret Cy, historian Jam Kirchick attempts to scribe to the historil rerd the homosexual men and women who have served and ntributed to their untry Washgton DC, throughout the 20th century. ”Kirchick first beme trigued by the ia of a gay history of Amerin power polics 2007, when he moved to DC and realized that was suffed wh a vivid gay cultural life and history. Kirchick astutely pots out that the fear of homosexualy has been a driver of printial polics, functng siarly to other historilly regnized forms of prejudice like antisemism and purg of so-lled munists.

This prejudice got kickstarted wh the revelatns of the Ksey Reports 1948 and 1953, when people sudnly realized that the gay populatn was far larger than anyone had gused.

HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI

This fear of “the gay next door” fueled stereotyp of gays beg disloyal to the Uned Stat, as well as the belief that they were herently nspiratorial – “if you have three homosexuals the room, ’s tomatilly a nspiracy, ” said Kirchick.

Bt-known for beg forced to rign amid a sex sndal while on the brk of succeedg Newt Ggrich as Speaker of the Hoe durg the impeachment of Bill Clton, Livgston 1980 beme nvced that the gay men legimately workg for Ronald Reagan were fact a sister bal secretly ntrollg him. Kirchick entw this lurid tale, which fueled an effort to scuttle Reagan’s 1980 printial nomatn, wh a number of gay nspiracy theori attached to the Reagan admistratn (cludg one that Reagan himself had sex wh another man).

Regardls of all the trigue, Kirchick also reports that Reagan’s admistratn proved to be “the gayt of any printial admistratn yet”, monstratg two pots central to Secret Cy: the growg acceptance of gays throughout the 20th century and their great value ernment, even a macho, hard-right one like Reagan’s. It is an irony mon to stori of LGBTQ+ rilience that the very thgs that opprsed gay and lbian dividuals – such as the need to lead a double-life, or the isolatn that me om not beg permted to marry – were ma advantageo both to the pursu of their liberatn and their polil reers. “In the perd documented this book, ” Kirchick said, “closets were good at producg gay people wh skills that ma them preternaturally equipped to functn Washgton – they were good at keepg secrets, had no fay life to distract them, and they were more loyal to people power.

THE FOTTEN SECRET LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

”Throughout Secret Cy, Kirchick do a masterful job of nveyg the flavor of homophobia each historil era, while g impecble rearch to vividly characterize the dozens of var dividuals at play the stori.

This is a book not jt about how polil power was brought to bear on the liv of gay men and women; even more, nveys the texture of an ever-evolvg world that nstantly kept gay people check. It shows how social forc shaped gay liv through nstant implic and explic threats, the very language that homosexuals had to scribe their inty and experience, and stern ntrol over the ways they uld accs the sexual practic that were ma so central to their inty as human Hudson wh Nancy and Ronald Reagan 1984 Photograph: Courty Everett Collectn/REXBee of this rich attentn to tail, Secret Cy also offers a vivid chronicle of the wav of liberatn and backlash that characterized the growg acceptance of LGBTQ+ rights the 20th century.

Across the sweep of Secret Cy, we see homosexualy transform om an absolute reer-enr to somethg policians n be refully open wav ntue today Republin efforts to slanr LGBTQ+ people as “groomers” and erase the gas trans people have ma accs to medil re and social cln. Although Kirchick is well aware of the ugly polics of the prent, as well as the agily of the gas LGBTQ+ people have ma society, he ends Secret Cy on a note of triumph, celebratg the transformative acceptance of gay people as a “massive acplishment of the liberal society”, and a qutsentially Amerin succs story. Blick arrived to share telligence about a new threat, one that, he suggted, uld stabilize Amerin natnal secury om wh: the existence of gay staffers at the hight levels of began by explag that “a well-known pnage tactic” entailed lurg female ernment staffers “to the munist unrground by volvg them lbian practic.