But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century - The Atlantic</tle><meta name="scriptn" ntent="The Atlantic vers news, polics, culture, technology, health, and more, through s articl, podsts, vios, and flagship magaze."/><meta property="kx:tle" ntent="But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century - The Atlantic"/><meta property="kx:scriptn" ntent="The Atlantic vers news, polics, culture, technology, health, and more, through s articl, podsts, vios, and flagship magaze."/><lk rel="nonil" href="><lk rel="image_src" href="><meta name="thor" ntent="Jennie Rothenberg Grz"/><lk rel="ia:markup_url" href="><meta property="article:publisher" ntent="><meta property="article:opn" ntent="false"/><meta property="article:ntent_tier" ntent="metered"/><meta property="article:tag" ntent="natnal"/><meta property="article:sectn" ntent="U.S."/><meta property="article:published_time" ntent="2012-09-07T20:35:01Z"/><meta property="article:modified_time" ntent="2012-09-07T23:36:55Z"/><meta name="robots" ntent="x, follow, max-image-preview:large"/><meta property="og:tle" ntent="But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century"/><meta property="og:scriptn" ntent="It was a time of "Boston marriag" between women and passnate iendships between men. But what happened behd closed doors is anybody's gus."/><meta property="og:url" ntent="><meta property="og:type" ntent="article"/><meta property="og:image"/><meta property="twter:rd" ntent="summary_large_image"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="The Atlantic" href="/feed/all/"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="Bt of The Atlantic" href="/feed/bt-of/"/><meta name="referrer" ntent="unsafe-url"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-pable" ntent="y"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-stat-bar-style" ntent="black"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-tle" ntent="The Atlantic"/><meta name="keywords" ntent="Sarah Orne Jewett, Walt Whman, same-sex timacy Whman, Orne Jewett Hoe, passnate same-sex iendships, censor Whman, John Addgton Symonds, Abraham Lln, Boston marriag, closed doors" emID="#keywords"/><meta name="news_keywords" ntent="Sarah Orne Jewett, Walt Whman, same-sex timacy Whman, Orne Jewett Hoe, passnate same-sex iendships, censor Whman, John Addgton Symonds, Abraham Lln, Boston marriag, closed doors"/><meta name="" ntent="natnal"/><meta name="" ntent="Jennie Rothenberg Grz"/><meta name="" ntent="2012-09-07T20:35:01Z"/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><script type="applitn/ld+json">{"@ntext":","@type":"NewsArticle","headle":"But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century","alternativeHeadle":"But Were They Gay? The Mystery of Same-Sex Love the 19th Century","url":","datePublished":"2012-09-07T20:35:01Z","dateModified":"2012-09-07T23:36:55Z","isAccsibleForFree":false,"hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccsibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".article-ntent-body"},"publisher":{"@id":"},"maEntyOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"},"thor":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennie Rothenberg Grz","sameAs":"}],"articleSectn":"U.S."}</script><meta name="next-head-unt" ntent="60"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-g=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><noscript data-n-css=""></noscript><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/></head><body><div id="__next"><div data-tegory="story page"><div></div><nav class="Nav_root___6bX9" aria-labelledby="se-navigatn" data-tegory="Se Nav" data-event-module="se nav" id="ma-navigatn"><div class="Nav_maNav__yofcm"><a href="#ma-ntent" class="Nav_skipLk__Evjjd">Skip to ntent</a><h2 id="se-navigatn" class="Nav_visuallyHi__AbSDF">Se Navigatn</h2><div class="Nav_flexContaer__Q3LKQ"><ul class="Nav_leftContaer__cPQgJ"><li class="Nav_navListItem__cEyWT Nav_visuallyHiOnMobile__hxCGG"><a href=" class="Nav_navLk__5SUAA"><svg xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 87.83 134" class="Nav_bigA__XvGGC"><tle>The Atlantic

famous gay love letters

Some people seem to thk that before beme legal gay people simply did not exist. Sce Febary is LGBTQ history month might be a good ia to

Contents:

TOP 10 FASCATG GAY TEXTS FROM HISTORY

Margaret’s love letters to Ruth, posthumoly gathered To Cherish the Life of the World: Selected Letters of Margaret Mead (public library) — which also gave Mead’s prcient posn on homosexualy — are a thg of absolute, soul-stirrg bety, on par wh such famed epistolary romanc as those between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Geia O’Keeffe and Aled Stieglz, Henry Miller and Anaïs N, and Jean-Pl Sartre and Simone Bevoir. From the wonrful 1998 anthology My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters Through the Centuri (public library) — a diverse llectn of missiv verg the universali of romantic love, om longg and fatuatn to jealoy and rejectn to tenrns and loyalty — the rrponnce of Beat Generatn godfather Allen Gsberg and the poet Peter Orlovsky.

Burroughs, another in of lerature’s gay subculture:. Among morny’s most tragic victims of our shameful past is Osr Wil, who was imprisoned multiple tim for his “crime” of homosexualy, driven to bankptcy and exile, and fally succumbed to an untimely ath.

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

Theirs was a relatnship that was kept a secret bee beg gay was still a thg that you uld be imprisoned for back that day. While the letters are not terribly graphic by today’s standards, tragilly, the were the same letters that were later ed the trail agast him, a trail which he was found guilty of homosexualy.

Thanks to the shownners drivg thentic stori, filmmakers buckg s-old heteronormative paradigms, actors embolned to live more hontly and platforms bankrollg so much of , beg gay, queer, transgenr or any other other has never been more wily embraced the entertament s gural Pri issue, The Hollywood Reporter homed on the talent and makers helpg boost visibily and creatg opportuni for members of the extend LGBTQ muny. His directorial work on Love, Simon marked the first major stud movie to center on a gay teen romance. After more than a of Watch What Happens Live Wh Andy Cohen, where he beme the first openly gay host Amerin late night, Bravo's exec turned talent tackl all kds of media (SiriXM show Rad Andy, multiple books), while upliftg and advotg for the LGBTQ muny.

IN WWII, TWO GAY SOLDIERS’ FORBIDN ROMANCE LIV ON IN THEIR LOVE LETTERS

I'LL FEEL GOOD ABOUT HOLLYWOOD'S LGBTQ REPRESENTATION WHEN "As much reprentatn as there is, there are very few big gay love stori. It was a gay Gus Who's Comg to Dner. He was a talented black, gay workg actor who was pavg the way for the '80s the streets Hollywood.

Sudnly, a clever, funny, kd, hot gay man on TV, that's still rare. Gay all up! And when 's jt a movie about a love story and not a gay love story.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* FAMOUS GAY LOVE LETTERS

In WWII, Two Gay Soldiers' Forbidn Romance Liv On In Their Love Letters.

TOP