Newly Published Portras Document a Century of Gay Men's Relatnships | Smart News | Smhsonian Magaze

Contents:

• BUT WERE THEY GAY? THE MYSTERY OF SAME-SEX LOVE THE 19TH CENTURY
• THE HISTORY OF GETTG THE GAY OUT
• NEWLY PUBLISHED PORTRAS DOCUMENT A CENTURY OF GAY MEN LOVE
• GAY RIGHTS
• HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI
• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

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

" 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.

The mm recently llected materials to document gay-nversn therapy (also lled "reparative therapy")—and the objects allow curators like myself to explore how real people experience the risks. Conley's memoir of his time there, Boy Erased, chronicl how the mp's nversn therapy followed the ia that beg gay was an addictn that uld be treated wh methods siar to those for abatg dg, alhol, gamblg, and other addictns. Smid eventually left Love Actn and married a the Uned Stat, rpons to gay, homosexual, queer, lbian, bisexual, transsexual, and genr non-nformg inti have fluctuated om "Y!

Lobotomy kniv of the sort ed to "treat" homosexualy the 1950s–1970sHomosexualy was nsired a psychiatric disorr until 1973, when was removed om the Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs (DSM). Electromagic shock vice ed the late 1900sJt as relig nvictn and fah are part of some addictn programs, relig beliefs about sexualy and genr form the only remag jtifitns for "gay nversn.

THE HISTORY OF GETTG THE GAY OUT

Usg the objects as a startg pot, I’m gog to give you an overview of how male homosexualy, effemacy and so-lled sexual viancy were practiced and perceived this perd.

NEWLY PUBLISHED PORTRAS DOCUMENT A CENTURY OF GAY MEN LOVE

The onle rerds of the Old Bailey are one of the bt rourc for renstctg gay culture this perd, precisely bee s exprsn was illegal and therefore likely to end up urt rerds. The character is not explicly wrten as gay, which would have been unthkable this perd, but is clearly lackg heterosexual mascule prows – one scene allus to his propensy to n away when approached by a pretty woman, while another he talks at length of the nuchs and dancg masters he llected around himself while on the Grand Tour of Europe. Siarly, the prt – which was signed by the ic pater William Hogarth 1746, and is tled Taste High Life – foc on the figure of a fashnable, effemate gentleman orr to make s pot; playg around wh the suggtn of homosexualy whout ever directly referencg .

As we’ve seen, the reprentatn of homosexualy popular culture was d rather than open, implied by behavurs such as the way one drsed, stood or spoke, bee the actual act of sodomy as fed law was nsired too taboo even to mentn by name.

In the followg post, we will look at how ele men, particularly those who llected art and antiqui, were fluenced the 18th century by the homoeroticism of the classil world. The Early Gay Rights Movement In 1924, Henry Gerber, a German immigrant, found Chigo the Society for Human Rights, the first documented gay rights anizatn the Uned Stat.

GAY RIGHTS

Army service World War I, Gerber was spired to create his anizatn by the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee, a “homosexual emancipatn” group ’s small group published a few issu of s newsletter “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter. Ernment signated Gerber’s Chigo hoe a Natnal Historic Pk TriangleCorbis/Getty ImagHomosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, gay rights movement stagnated for the next few s, though LGBT dividuals around the world did e to the spotlight a few example, English poet and thor Radclyffe Hall stirred up ntroversy 1928 when she published her lbian-themed novel, The Well of Lonels.

Addnally, 1948, his book Sexual Behavr the Human Male, Aled Ksey proposed that male sexual orientatn li on a ntuum between exclively homosexual to exclively Homophile Years In 1950, Harry Hay found the Mattache Foundatn, one of the natn’s first gay rights group. ”Though started off small, the foundatn, which sought to improve the liv of gay men through discsn groups and related activi, expand after foundg member Dale Jenngs was arrted 1952 for solicatn and then later set ee due to a adlocked the end of the year, Jenngs formed another anizatn lled One, Inc., which weled women and published ONE, the untry’s first pro-gay magaze.

HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI

Post Office, which 1954 clared the magaze “obscene” and refed to liver Mattache Society Mattache Foundatn members rtctured the anizatn to form the Mattache Society, which had lol chapters other parts of the untry and 1955 began publishg the untry’s send gay publitn, The Mattache Review.

That same year, four lbian upl San Francis found an anizatn lled the Dghters of Bilis, which soon began publishg a newsletter lled The Ladr, the first lbian publitn of any early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn listed homosexualy as a form of mental disorr followg year, Print Dwight D. In 1961, Illois beme the first state to do away wh s anti-sodomy laws, effectively crimalizg homosexualy, and a lol TV statn California aired the first documentary about homosexualy, lled The 1965, Dr. ”In fear of beg shut down by thori, bartenrs would ny drks to patrons spected of beg gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drks but force them to s facg away om other ctomers to prevent them om 1966, members of the Mattache Society New York Cy staged a “sip-”—a twist on the “s-” protts of the 1960s— which they vised taverns, clared themselv gay, and waed to be turned away so they uld sue.

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

They were nied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Juli, rultg much publicy and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor Stonewall Inn A few years later, 1969, a now-famo event talyzed the gay rights movement: The Stonewall clanste gay club Stonewall Inn was an stutn Greenwich Village bee was large, cheap, allowed dancg and weled drag queens and homels the early hours of June 28, 1969, New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn.