Lonely hunter : an oral history of lesbian and gay southern life, 1948-1968

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Lonely hunter : an oral history of lesbian and gay southern life, 1948-1968

James T. Sears

Westview Press, 1997

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 284-304) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

In Lonely Hunters , James Sears, noted gay writer, academic, and media commentator, has compiled the real stories of gay men and lesbians who were raised in the social hierarchy of the South and who recall their coming of age when the status quo of American society as a whole was on the cusp of great upheaval. Most notable, of course, was the battle being waged for the civil rights of blacks, but another, less visible battle was also taking placethat of cultivating gay identities, peer groups, and a subculture no longer hidden by Southern convention. }This is the story of Southern gays and lesbians in the twenty-year span between the end of World War II and the Stonewall Riot that sparked widespread gay rights consciousness. Across the United States, this was an era of courting and cocktail parties, Johnny Mathis and Jack Kerouac, with a Southern culture aptly depicted by Tennessee Williamsgenteel attitudes and behavior covering, in a thin veneer, baser passions just barely contained. But this veneer was developing cracks that would soon divide society in hotly contested battles over race, sexuality, and gender.In Lonely Hunters , James Sears, noted gay writer, academic, and media commentator, has compiled the real stories of gay men and lesbians who were raised in the social hierarchy of the South and who recall their coming of age when the status quo of American society as a whole was on the cusp of great upheaval. Most notable, of course, was the battle being waged for the civil rights of blacks, but another, less visible battle was also taking placethat of cultivating gay identities, peer groups, and a subculture no longer hidden by Southern convention. Though maintaining social stature was important for many gay men and women at the time, accomplished by hiding their identities through so-called Boston marriages and the common arrangement of gay couples living in duplexes and posing as heterosexual partners, others had come out of the closet and were beginning to work for gay rights. It is the real lived experiences of participants in these pivotal social transitions that are collected here. The people and stories collected here are the parents of todays gay rights movement, and the message is cleargays and lesbians, and the rest of us, have come a very long way. } This is the story of Southern gays and lesbians in the twenty-year span between the end of World War II and the Stonewall Riot that sparked widespread gay rights consciousness. Across the United States, this was an era of courting and cocktail parties, Johnny Mathis and Jack Kerouac, with a Southern culture aptly depicted by Tennessee Williamsgenteel attitudes and behavior covering, in a thin veneer, baser passions just barely contained. But this veneer was developing cracks that would soon divide society in hotly contested battles over race, sexuality, and gender.In Lonely Hunters , James Sears, noted gay writer, academic, and media commentator, has compiled the real stories of gay men and lesbians who were raised in the social hierarchy of the South and who recall their coming of age when the status quo of American society as a whole was on the cusp of great upheaval. Most notable, of course, was the battle being waged for the civil rights of blacks, but another, less visible battle was also taking placethat of cultivating gay identities, peer groups, and a subculture no longer hidden by Southern convention. Though maintaining social stature was important for many gay men and women at the time, accomplished by hiding their identities through so-called Boston marriages and the common arrangement of gay couples living in duplexes and posing as heterosexual partners, others had come out of the closet and were beginning to work for gay rights.It is the real lived experiences of participants in these pivotal social transitions that are collected here. The people and stories collected here are the parents of todays gay rights movement, and the message is cleargays and lesbians, and the rest of us, have come a very long way.

Table of Contents

Foreword (Jim Kepner) IntroductionPurging Perverts in Paradise: The 22nd Street Beach, Coupon-Clippers, and the Tongueston TrioDark Nights of the Soul: Charley Johns and the Chicken RanchFerreting Out the Lesbian Menace: The Purple Pamphlet and the Deans of WomenThe Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: The City on the Hill Struggles with Civil Rights and CivilitiesDawn Arises in Aristocratic Charleston: The Gordon Langley Hall AffairThe Blue Fairy and the Making of a New Activist GenerationThe Mississippi of the Homosexual and the Politics of DialecticsAfterword: A Conversation with Barbara Gittings

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