A History Question

[Banzai]

Hey All,

I'm chilling in my house this afternoon, listening to some classic Madonna and watching Percilla, Queen of the Desert, and I started thinking. I have been out and about for a few years now, but I really don't know much about the history of the GLBT(...) community. I know of Stonewall, sorta, and the parts I remember from skimming "...And The Band Played On" during National Comming Out Day last year. However, aside from a worn copy of the Immaculate Collection, I have no other links of the history of the gay community. :-D Does anybody have any books that they know of that I coud read to start to know more?

I was born in 1986, so for me, I can always remember the AIDS epidmic, and from what I can see now, the disregard for it today. There has always been openly gay television charectors, as Will and Grace started when I was in 5th grade, the same year that Matthew Shepard was murdered.

I guess I am just curious about everything. I have always loved history and now I want to explore, what is to me, an underreported area of the past.

Thanks in advance.
brad

 

[Boston5602]

Hi


Do you know about Harvey Milk, first elected gay official to be assassinated?
He was a supervisor in San Francisco.

Gosh......I thought I would remember much more. I did read lots about our gay community and its history over the years but I guess I can't think of anything else right now.

With elections right around the corner I've been thinking about Harvey and JFK and others and what our life would be if we didn't lose them when we did!
Guess thats blocking everything else , DARN MY MEMORY !!

 

[LukenDC]

Gay New York by George Chauncey is the best gay history that I have read, but it's scope is limited to NYC from the 1890s to 1945. In addition to exploring gay history, the book imparts a lot of information about urban life in general.

I work for a social service agency that serves a lot of people living with AIDS and this afternoon several of my co-workers and I began watching the Frontline documentary The Age of AIDS. Very well done and informative. Of course, it explores the entire global AIDS epidemic, not just its affect on gay men.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers is an excellent history on Lesbians. It's a "History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth Century America." Lillian Faderman.

It's a novel, but the Frontrunner is a good one to read also. It's not a history, but a good slice of gay America.

Out in America is fun to read. A casual book, but chock full of "data."

Another Mother Tongue is well worth reading too.

If you want to step into philosophy, try Mary Daly on for size. Start at the beginning with Beyond God the Father, or you'll get hopelessly lost.

Clearly these are women centered (other than the Frontrunner) but do provide good information.

Take a browse through the Gay and Lesbian (or Women's studies) section of a good bookstore or library. You'll find many things.

 

[OrlandoMike]

If you like light reading, try the "Tales of the City" series by Armisted Maupin.

Its light fiction, but great reading! It follows some friends in San Francisco in the 1970's. Very short chapters, and great, easy reading! It is fiction, but full of stories of how life was for gays back in the day.

It makes me glad to see that you are interisted in our history. Many of our youth today take for granted all of the rights and freedoms that we enjoy today. Back in my day, the closest thing to Will and Grace was Uncle Aurther on Bewitched!

Pre Stonewall, you just didn't discuss such things! You just had that one "uncle" in the family that never got married, and it just wasn't discussed why he had the same "roomate" for all of those years.

Anyone else remember the big fuss back in the early 70's when two boys wanted to dance together at Disneyland? Now look at Gay Days. We've come a long way baby!

 

[iankh]

My partner is currently finishing the history book he's been writing, "Chicago Whispers" a gay history of Chicago, that takes the reader up to 1969, the Stonewall riots.

 

[donald...really]

Rent the academy award winning best documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk". It is WONDERFUL. They have it on Netfix if you are a member

From Netflix:
Harvey Fierstein narrates this documentary by Rob Epstein about San Francisco's most colorful -- and unfortunately, tragic -- political figure: Harvey Milk. A staunch fighter for gay rights, Milk helped forge a presence for the city's gay community in city hall, becoming the first openly gay member of San Francisco's combative city council. But his life, along with Mayor George Moscone's, was cut short by infamous fellow politico Dan White.

Here is the information about the movie from IMDB:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0088275/


A few more that are available on Netfix:

AFTER STONEWALL
Melissa Etheridge narrates this documentary that explores the progress and challenges of the post-Stonewall lesbian/gay rights movement through archival footage and interviews with leaders such as Barbara Gittings, Armistead Maupin, Jewelle Gomez and Dorothy Allison. The film chronicles key events from 1970 to the end of the 20th century, including sexual liberation, conflicts with the feminist movement, AIDS and political organization.

BEFORE STONEWALL
Life was very different before the 1969 Stonewall riots put the issue of gay rights front and center in America. Using archival films and interviews with gays and lesbians who were forced to hide their sexuality for fear of reprisals, this documentary by Robert Rosenberg, Greta Schiller and John Scagliotti sheds light on American gay life from the 1920s to the 1960s and the sociopolitical climate that finally led to profound change.

COMMON THREADS: STORIES FROM THE QUILT
Rob Epstein's searing Oscar-winning documentary profiles six people who died of AIDS, helping to put a human face to an illness that, when this movie first aired in 1989, was cloaked in fear and mystery. Using the AIDS Memorial Quilt as his starting point, Epstein, with the help of narrator Dustin Hoffman's dignity and gravitas, humanizes the disease and illustrates its carnage, showing how it devastates families and communities.

THE CELLULOID CLOSET
Narrated by Lily Tomlin, this acclaimed documentary takes its name from Vito Russo's groundbreaking book. The filmmakers examine the subtext of more than 100 Hollywood movies -- including Spartacus, Rope and Thelma and Louise -- and chart the cinematic journey of lesbian and gay characters. Film clips are paired with director, producer and actor interviews featuring, among others, Gore Vidal, Tom Hanks and Whoopi Goldberg.

 

[Boston5602]

If you like light reading, try the "Tales of the City" series by Armisted Maupin.

Its light fiction, but great reading! It follows some friends in San Francisco in the 1970's. Very short chapters, and great, easy reading! It is fiction, but full of stories of how life was for gays back in the day.

Hey Mike's right , good story . I remember when it was a story initself on if it should be made into a movie or not. Some PBS stations refused to air it even after being on Showtime already.

If you have Digital Cable and " Logo " they've been playing this alot lately.

 

[Viki]

OK, here's a story for you, if you really want to dig up the "ancient" history.

I'm "only" 48 years old , but I've always had a thing for older women and my first "friend" was 20 years my senior and the first lesbian woman ever to come out on TV.

In fact, back in the 60s she could NOT come out on American television, but Canadian television (let's here it for our northern neighbors), invited her up to Canada and she did it there.

Her last name is McCann and I only mention that name because she's part of history. A really Good part - With the internet you can look it up.

 

[iankh]

If you would like to experience gay history in the words and thoughts of a person of the time, then I recommend reading:

Jeb and Dash: A Diary of Gay Life 1918-1945

This is an actual diary of a gay man who lived and working in Washington, DC and as the title says, it spans 1918 to 1945. I find it facinating to experience history not as history but as the then current moment in time, through the eyes of the person living it.

 

[ConcKahuna]

Here's a random website about gay history in Egypt...

http://www.gayegypt.com/gayhistory.html

 

[OrlandoMike]

"Alexander the Great........talk about Gays in the military!"

Sorry couldn't resist!

 

[Banzai]

Thanks for the help everyone. I went to Barns and Nobel yesterday and got myself "And The Band Played On", as well as "Stonewall" by Martin Duberman and "Place at the Table" by Bruce Bawer. Seems like my local lacks in the Gay studies books...unless you concider "history" to be "my first time"

Seems like I have some light reading to do...

B

 

[donald...really]

"Stonewall" is a great book. I was going to recomend that one to you but I couldn't remember the author. Enjoy!

 

[ConcKahuna]

I have the movie version of "Stonewall" on DVD. I got it for $3 at Blockbuster I think. I didnt realize it was also a novel (I just looked it up on IMDB and it is actually based on the novel), but now I'm going to have to find it and read it...

 

[EltonJohn]

Brad,

You might want to read a biography of Judy Garland, I find it interesting that she is considered a "gay icon".

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

The first book that I read on the subject way back in the day was "Another Mother Tongue: Gay Words Gay Worlds" by Judy Grahn. It's a great read with lots of interesting history for gay men and lesbians. Granted, it does seem slanted towards women, but when you look at the volumes of books written about the men, it's refreshing to find a book with a woman's perspective.

 

[OrlandoMike]

This thread was started in 2006!

Now that's history!

 

[padalyn]

For more lesbian history - try Women of the Sewing Circle. I don't recall the author. This talks about lesbians in the late 1800's and early 1900's. the process of acceptance and lack thereof.

I can look at it tomorrow when I get home from work.

Another book that shows where one of the icons came from is the "men of the pink triangle" this talks about Nazi Germany and how the triangles were used to identfy different types of prisoners.