Readings U.S. Lesbian and Gay History George Chauncey

MIDTERM GROUP STUDY GUIDE – READINGS U.S. LESBIAN AND GAY HISTORY GEORGE CHAUNCEY “IS THERE A HISTORY OF SEXUALITY?” DAVID HALPERIN Erin Maher Halperin writes about the study of sexuality in a historical context. He wants to trouble the idea that we can look back at previous (or current but non-American) societies/cultures and impose our ideological organization of sexuality on them. He uses the example of Athens -- many male citizens engaged in what we would think of as homosexual behavior, but to them this was how male sexuality naturally worked, through penetrative sex with women/boys/slaves. Halperin links different formations of sexuality to cultural, social, and political ideas (“it is not sexuality which haunts society, but society which haunts the body’s sexuality”). He also discusses the unique way in which sexuality affects identity and classification of people into groups in the modern, Western conception of it. He compares sexuality to food choice, saying “far from being a necessary or intrinsic constituent of human life, ‘sexuality’ seems indeed to be a uniquely modern, Western, even bourgeois production--one of those cultural fictions which in every society give human beings access to themselves as meaningful actors in their world, and which are thereby objectivated.” He ends his paper with a call for a new method of studying sexual history that focuses on “the processes whereby sexual desires are constructed, mass-produced, and distributed among the various members of human living-groups,” and that acknowledges that what we perceive as personal, innate, authentic experiences are actually “shared, unnecessary/and political”. FRANCES WILLARD: DIARY ENTRIES (1860-1861) Erin Maher Frances Willard and Mary are an example of female “romantic friendships” in 19th century America. Her diary shows the ways in which intimate relationships between two women were relatively common and accepted, but also the ways in which that breaks down. Willard states that she loves Mary as a man might, and she questions whether or not her feelings for Mary are more intense than is normal. The women around her start expressing their disapproval when the “romantic friendship” starts interfering with Willard’s prospects for heterosexual marriage (she eventually turns down her suitor, Charlie, because she doesn’t feel for him what she feels for Mary). While it shows the intense relationships that could form, it also (contrary to some of the other readings for this week) troubles idea that these relationships could also coexist peacefully for many years alongside marriage and that they provided mainly solace -- Willard is clearly quite troubled by the strength of her own feelings and by Mary’s inconsistency towards her. “NO KISSES IS LIKE YOURES’” An Erotic Friendship between Two African-American Women during the Mid-Nineteenth Century KAREN V. HANSEN Alex Co Addie Brown – free-born African-American domestic worker Rebecca Primus – African-American school teacher Not a secret relationship – highly visible in the domestic networks of Hartford’s African-American community Romantic friendship Black women found few jobs open to them outside of laundry and domestic service Rebecca had moved to Maryland to teach but wrote home and wrote Addie about the “racially stratified and deeply hostile political and social environment” – whites were still on top Addie worried that because Rebecca was older, more educated, and of a higher status within the Black community that she wasn’t allowed to love her Their friendship included passion, kisses, and what Hansen calls “bosom sex” and competed with their heterosexual relationships Literature framed the physical intimacy between women as part of “a sexual continuum, with fluid boundaries between heterosexuality and homosexuality” Sleeping with a woman involved providing access to her breasts (bosom sex, bosom talk) Addie’s family seemed to view her relations with Rebecca as “transitional, a stage during young adulthood that would not interfere with eventual heterosexual marriage” Addie eventually married after reflecting upon her status as a single black woman in a low-wage occupation – it made financial sense to get married Turned into language of kinship – Addie referring to Rebecca as her “sister” rather than, say, “lover” Important: others saw nothing wrong with their evidently strong friendship, on one condition – that it did not interfere with their eventual heterosexual marriage This notion of romantic friendship was not limited only to middle-class white women, as we can see from this account This was also explicitly an erotic friendship, not simply romantic THE FEMALE WORLD OF LOVE AND RITUAL: Relations Between Women in 19th Century America CARROLL SMITH-ROSENBERG Alex Co Females grew up in a female-centered world Adopted by mother’s friends, relatives, other women Strong mother-daughter ties Viewed female friendships from a cultural and social setting rather than only psychosexual Viewed in comparison to the structure of the American family and to the nature of sex-role divisions and of male-female relations both within the family and in society generally There were Sarah and Jeannie. And then Molly and Helena. I don’t think we’ll need to know them. The sexual dichotomy of heterosexual or homosexual did not exist at this time Rigid gender-role differentiation within the family and within society as a whole – lead to the emotional segregation of women and men Lead to the development of a specifically female world as well as distinct male and female spheres 2 Central to the female world was an inner core of kin – it started with families and branched out to friends of family members. Women frequently spent their days within the social confines of such extended families. Women assumed an emotional centrality in each others’ lives An intimate mother-daughter relationship lay at the heart of this female world. There was sort of an apprenticeship system where the daughter would learn female tasks from the mother. When daughters went away to school, that was the first time they left home and their mothers for an extended period of time – this is where older women took on the role of foster mother In letters written by females, boys and men appear as an other or out group Marriage followed adolescence 19th century American society did not taboo close female relationships but rather recognized them as a socially viable form of human contact – and, as such, acceptable throughout a woman’s life GAY NEW YORK Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940 GEORGE CHAUNCEY Will Portman (chp. 1-2) and Hope Wilson (chp. 3-4) Introduction Three myths about life before the gay movement: o Myth of isolation  That anti-gay hostility prevented the development of a gay subculture and forced gay men to lead solitary lives o Myth of invisibility  That even if a gay world existed, it was highly invisible and thus nearly impossible for isolated gay men to find each other o Myth of internalization  Gay men internalized society’s view of homosexuality as sick/sinful and thus policed themselves versus resisting these views Professional medical judgment that gays were mentally ill Many gay men led a double life—kept their hair up most of the time, but let it down occasionally “Coming out” referred not to exiting a closet, but rather to “coming out into” the gay world, a la debutante balls o Later (~1950s), coming out came to mean having one’s first homosexual sexual experience. In the 1970s, it began to take on its current meaning, declaring one’s homosexuality to primarily straight friends and family Status of gays in NYC and the U.S. has not necessarily followed a linear course toward increasingly greater societal acceptance. Chauncey argues that gay life was less tolerated, less visible, and more segregated in the second third of the 20th century than in the first Gay history has focused a lot on white, middle class experiences, but some of the most thriving gay communities were in ethnic and working class communities World War II was a major disruptive event that reorganized gay life in America Binarism of “homosexual” and “heterosexual” that exists today was not the case from 1890-1940. Sexuality was more fluid, and defined culturally more by one’s gender performance than by the genitalia of one’s sexual partners “Fairies” was a very common term used to refer to effeminate men who often slept with other men 3 “Gay” used to mean prostitute; also meant “good,” “pleasurable”; later, of course, came to be dominant term for all homosexuals Main terms pre-“gay”: fairy (effeminate homosexual), queer (more conventional homosexual), trade (see below) A “trade” was often the sexual ideal for fairies: an ostensibly straight (“normal”), masculine man (sailor, soldier, etc.) who would accept fairies’ advances Other terms: faggot, invert, pervert, degenerate, queen “Gay” was initially used as code/double-entendre: a “gay bar” could be interpreted by a heterosexual as being a fun/happy spot, not a homosexual spot. But a homosexual would know what you were talking about. Chapter 1: The Bowery as Haven and Spectacle The Bowery was the area of “commercialized vice”/red light district in NYC o Paresis Hall and other gay “resorts” o Fairies abounded, also female prostitutes “Slumming” in the Bowery and similar areas became popular with “respectable” upper- and middle-class people Media sensationalism (NY Herald, etc.) about “depravity” in Bowery “dives” Ralph Werther, a medical student at Columbia from North Carolina, would spend one night a week letting his hair down in the Bowery (he was not known as homosexual at med school the other six days) o He wrote in his journal “my female soul, one evening a week, flaunted itself as a French doll-baby in the shadowy haunts of night life downtown” “Fairy back room saloons” were common in the Bowery There was a fairy prostitute trade, and b/c privacy in tenements was scarce, fairies and clients used hotels like the Sharon Hotel, which was known as “Cock Suckers Hall” Some gay clubs were established, members called each other “sisters” The Bowery was working class; middle-class gay culture tended to be more “circumspect” Chapter 2: The Fairy as an Intermediate Sex Fairies- defined not by same-sex desire or activity (“sexuality”), but by gender persona and status (womanlike character) Called “inverts” b/c of gender-role inversion Called “third sex” or “intermediate sex” b/c thought to combine elements from male and female sexes Sometimes called “bisexual” – not meaning that they were attracted to both sexes, but rather that they were composites of both sexes; thought to be somewhat hermaphroditic Fairies at places like Paresis Hall identified themselves using campy, feminine names (“Big Tess,” “Lady So and So”) Drag queens imitated film stars like Theda Bara, Mae West Having two names (real name and feminine persona name) symbolized having a double-life Fairies identified themselves with clothing, makeup, other physical characteristics. Some signs were subtle, i.e. a red necktie. Others were more obvious- dyed blond hair, rouged cheeks, highheeled shoes (“flaming queens”) Also often had different walk, speech, eye movements, etc. “Artistic” became a euphemism for homosexual Fairy persona as cultural strategy: way to place selves within gender-normative society, way to negotiate relationships with other men (fairy persona was a signaling device indicating interest in men, also gave fairies a role in their interactions with men- they could act as if they were the woman in the situation) Fairies were generally regarded as entertaining, benign (“more amusing than abhorrent”) Some govt. officials used female pronouns to refer to fairies in official reports Some gangs “[went] after fags,” targeting fairies. Would sometimes go back to one of their apartments with them, then rob them “If fairies were tolerated because they were women, they were also subject to the contempt and violence regularly directed against women” 4 Many men seemed to have regarded fairies in much the same way as they regarded prostitutes Phenomenon of the fairy: cultural gender dissociated from anatomical sex Many ostensibly straight men would have sex with a fairy if no prostitute were available Chapter 3: Trade, Wolves, and the Boundaries of Normal Manhood Early 20th century: men could engage in sexual relations with other men without having to regard themselves as gay. This ideology predominated in working-class culture. As long as a man acted masculine and only played the insertive role in any sexual encounter, he was not considered queer. Around 1900: the predominant form of male prostitution was fairies selling sex to “normal” men. (1910’s & 20’s: increasing number of gay & straight men selling sex to gay men) “trade”: originally refers to the customer of a fairy prostitute, but by the 1910’s, it refers to any straight man who responded to a gay man’s advances. (Later, it could also refer to straight men who worked as prostitutes serving gay men.) Kinsey Report (based on data collected in 1930’s and 40’s): large amount of homosexual activity found; this can be seen as evidence that men could engage in sexual relations with other men without thinking of themselves as abnormal. Kinsey himself thought it was absurd to think that inversion invariably accompanied homosexual activity, or that the active male in a sexual relation was heterosexual. (Middle-class men were less likely to accept the fairy-trade schema for understanding homosexual relations) Ethnic differences in social organization of homosexual relations. For instance, straight Italian or Irish men were found to be more responsive to homosexual advances than straight Jewish men. Reasons: Catholicism focused on the harms of sex between men & women and thereby may have implied that homosexual contact was relatively harmless; in southern Italy, men who took the man’s part in a homosexual relationship were not stigmatized as were men who took the woman’s part, and this pattern appears to have persisted among the immigrants; Jewish immigrants tended to immigrate as families, whereas most Italian immigrant men were single or unaccompanied by their families; and Italian neighborhoods had much greater gender segregation. 76: the “bachelor subculture”: exemplified by the all-male world of many Italian immigrants. Bachelor subculture played significant role in American cities from mid-19th to mid-20th century. Made up of young, unmarried, “rough” working class men, often transient laborers & seamen. The interaction of fairies and trade was most visible & highly-developed in this social world. Differences between bachelor subculture & general working-class culture (which made it a better place for fairies): bachelor subculture men forged alternative definitions of manliness that did not involve supporting a family (though many did marry later); rejection of “domesticating influence of women.” They constantly had to prove their manhood; they regarded their manliness as a kind of ongoing performance (connection to Judith Butler!). Fairies confirmed the bachelor subculture men’s manliness by relating to them as if they themselves were women. The “normal” men could brag about sexually using a fairy in much the same way as they bragged about mastering a woman. (Penetration = power) Fairies and female prostitutes were basically interchangeable; it was assumed that a man would accept sexual satisfaction from a fairy if a female prostitute were not available. (especially in bachelor subculture, where opportunities for meeting “respectable” women were scarce: division between “pure women” and “impure women” (for whom fairies could be a substitute)) “Line-ups”: a line of men who have sex with a woman (or fairy, or a younger boy) one after another; sometimes (especially in the case of boys) this was just a gang rape, but sometimes the women had control of the situation. Presumption that a man’s sexual satisfaction was more important than the gender or character of the person who provided it Gay men appealed to straight men by offering fellation (which many women refused to perform) or arguing that only women could give them venereal diseases “husbands,” “wolves,” “jockers”: men who preferred male sexual partners. Still not seen as queer. “husbands”: men involved in marriages with fairies. Still not queer. “wolves” (or “active pederasts”): men who acknowledged a preference for playing the man’s role in sex with fairies or youths (punks). Still not queer. 5 “punk”: a youth who let himself be used sexually by a wolf in exchange for money or protection. (possibly seen as queer) wolf-punk relationships common among seamen and hoboes. Homosexual world within New York City Jail in early 20th century: based on wider cultural patterns. Fairies were segregated from other men (they were given some freedom, allowed to dress in drag) because it was believed that they might tempt the “normal” men otherwise. Segregation did not end homosexual relationships in jail; lots of wolves and punks. Wolves weren’t segregated because the prison authorities thought they weren’t distinguishable from the other men. Wolves were thought to have poorer morals than other men, but weren’t “queer.” Chapter 4: The Forging of Queer Identities and the Emergence of Heterosexuality in Middle-Class Culture 100: Men aware of sexual desires for other men who had no desire to be known as “fairies” or were repulsed by effeminate men struggled to form an alternate identity: thus was born the distinction between heterosexuals and homosexuals. This effort to form a homosexual identity was “predominantly a middle-class phenomenon”, and the emergence of “heterosexuals” accompanied the emergence of “homosexuals,” as “normal” men now had to define their difference from homosexual men. These concepts emerged in the late nineteenth century. 104: Walt Whitman: stood for the masculine love of men. Celebrated “the manly love of comrades.” 108: Middle-class gay men tended to pursue working-class men over other middle-class men because they seemed more masculine (and also more responsive and tolerant). (1910s: Charles Griffes, a middle-class gay man, specifically pursued policemen). 111: rise of large corporations => many men lost economic independence; number of salaried, unpropertied workers grew 8x between 1870 and 1910. More women in same firms as men; women’s suffrage movement; temperance movement; women seemed to be trying to control culture. Breaching division of gender spheres. The masculinity of middle-class men was threatened by this and by the masculinity of working-class men. 113: “Proving one’s manhood became central to the rhetoric of national purpose” (Theodore Roosevelt used manhood rhetoric in many of his speeches.) Spanish-American War (1898) hailed as the “savior of American manhood.” Too much peace supposed to lead to effeminate men. And women were supposed to have an over-civilizing influence on men. The Boy Scouts rose from this fear. 114: middle-class “cult of muscularity” to differentiate themselves, physically, from women. “Manly” now focused on not being “womanly” as opposed to not being “boyish.” 115: fairies as a threat to middle-class masculinity because their effeminacy represented the loss of manhood that middle-class men feared in themselves. 117: middle-class men decided heterosexuality was a hallmark of a real man. Bernarr Macfadden, publisher of bodybuilding magazines, had to insist that there could be no relationship between a healthy adoration of a muscular male nude and the “depraved sexual desires of a degenerate” 1910’s, 20’s: more heterosociability. 118: 1920’s: more women getting married. 119: for several generations, middle-class men had thought sexual self-control distinguished them from lower-class men, so they had less non-marital hetero sex, too. Middle-class men more likely than lower-class to be exclusively homosexual and to switch roles (active and passive) 120: from 1850s to 1900s: more middle-class scrutiny of male “romantic friendships” 121: heterosexuality emerges in medical discourse around 1900. Doctors had the same anxiety about gender as the rest of the middle class. 122: doctors in late 19th & early 20th cent: “feminists = lesbians!” Regarded fairies as an “intermediate sex”, but believed many men engaged in homosexual activity without being inverts. Fairies = “inverts”; masculine men who responded to their advances (thereby perverting their normal sexual drive) = “perverts” 123: but doctors began to see the “perverts” as having homosexual desire themselves; in 1913, A. A. Brill classes fairies & trade together as homosexual. 6 124: 1905: Freud focuses on sexual object as much as sexual aim (sexual aim = preferred mode of sexual behavior (genital vs. oral, passive vs. active). Said that masculinity and male inversion can go together. 125: Medical writings around 1900 regarding gays didn’t really affect the social world; they just reflected it. THE WELL OF LONELINESS RADCLYFFE HALL Anjali Balakrishna (Book 1), (Book 2 IS MISSING), Paul Leo (Book 3), David Langdon (Books 4 and 5) Book 1 Stephen’s parents wanted a boy, so regardless of sex of child decided to give it a boy’s name o Symbolic of the gender inversion which Stephen embodies Mother, Anna, has complicated feelings about her child First Female Attraction: Collins the housemaid o Realized that it was a different love than that with which she adored her father o Stephen became deeply infatuated with Collins, spent all of her time thinking about her and fantasizing about their life together o At this time, Stephen begins to feel like a boy o Collins labeled her as “queer” o Collins then started getting it with a handsome footman – and Stephen was heartbroken o She sees them kissing, tells her father, and Collins is discharged from the house Stephen asks if she can be a boy, if she wishes for it enough Boy, Roger Antrim, tries to bully her, and she hates him but also has physical prowess that competes with his Violet Antrim comments on how much Stephen can eat (how she’s like a boy in that regard) At school, wants to learn how to lift weights, and “fight duels for wives in distress, like men do in Paris” also wants to cut off her hair o Became an expert fencer Father tells her at age 14 to be invested in her books because life’s not going to be easy for her, so she needs to be smart! Stephen sort of mentors this young boy named Raferty, teaching him that he must develop his brains and body Girls at school thought Stephen was “queer” so she felt socially isolated o “Could Stephen have met men on equal terms, she would always have chosen them as her companions” “She had not yet learnt that the loneliest place in this world is the no-man’s land of sex” People don’t like her because she’s weird/different! Male relationship: Martin o She really likes him (as a friend) and says she will miss him when he’s gone o When she says this to Puddle (the teacher), Puddle kisses her! o Her dad feels a bit relieved because he thinks that Martin means that he was wrong about his fears about Stephen’s inversion o Martin confesses his love for Stephen, and she freaks out; he leaves and goes to London because he can’t handle the pain! o The situation with Martin causes her to really question herself Stephen tells her dad about Martin, he realizes that his fears about her being a gender-invert are true but he won’t say anything to her Anna, Stephen’s mom, makes a huge deal about of the Martin thing, and papa Phil says that Stephen is going to do great things and boys aren’t important 7 Dad gets pinned by a tree – and while he is dying, he tries to tell his wife that there’s something up with Stephen, but can’t get the words out before he dies Book 3 In London, Stephen has cut her hair short and started smoking cigarettes. She goes back to visit her mother and it is very unpleasant. They rarely make eye contact, and it is clear that they would avoid each other if they had the choice. Stephen returns from the visit feeling terrible. Puddle notices that Stephen has a desire for isolation. Stephen is having trouble writing her second book and worries that it won’t be as good as The Furrow. She says that she is not complete as a writer because of her “maimed and insufferable body.” Stephen’s second novel is published and it does not get as much critical acclaim as the first. Raftery, now eighteen, is too old and sick to continue to live. Stephen shoots Raftery in the head to put him out of his misery. With Raftery gone, the stables of Morton are now empty. Stephen is unsure whether she is attracted or repulsed by a man named Jonathan Brockett. One thing she likes about him is that “at most, he will only ask for friendship.” He is portrayed as an “invert” as well. Brockett comes over to Puddle and Stephen’s place to cook dinner. During dinner he tells Stephen that her new novel is just terrible, and that she must do something quickly to fix whatever is preventing her from writing well. Stephen notes how by hating Stephen, Stephen’s mother is “despising the fruit of her love.” She says, “by your passion you created the thing that I am. Who are you to deny me the right to love? But for you I need never have known existence.” Stephen is caught by a sudden fear that her father was a coward. She writes a letter to her mother telling her that she is leaving Morton and going abroad. She tells her mother not to write her, and essentially disowns her. She mentions in the letter that Puddle loves her. Stephen and Puddle end up in Paris. Brockett comes to visit (somewhat permanently) and acts as their tour guide. Stephen gets frequently annoyed with Brockett. She often mentions his feminine characteristics (the “effeminate timbre of his voice,” his “soft, white hands,” etc.) Stephen (with Brockett) goes to visit a woman named Valerie. Brockett is convinced that the two women will hit it off. Stephen notices that Valerie approves of her not because she is a “decent human with a well-trained brain,” but rather because she is all of the “outward stigmata of the abnormal.” Stephen and Puddle decide that they will live in Paris. They buy a house at Rue Jacob and live there with a family including an eighteen-year-old daughter named Adele. The mother of the family, Pauline, is described as “aggressively feminine.” Stephen and Puddle soon return to a life of isolation. Stephen fences every once in a while with a man named Buisson who says that she has the “muscles of a man.” That spring, Stephen is reunited by complete chance with Mademoiselle Duphot in Paris. She notes how different the portly, French Duphot is from the small, English Puddle. Duphot comes to dine at Rue Jacob (Puddle and Stephen’s home) and is saddened to hear that Stephen’s father has died. The war breaks out, and Anna writes a letter to Puddle (which Stephen reads) telling her that all the men from Morton have enlisted in the army. Jonathan Brockett also enlists. He is here described as “Jonathan Brockett, with the soft white hands, and the foolish gestures, and the high little laugh.” In the war, the men are being enlisted, and the women are “at the bedsides of the wounded and dying.” Stephen feels like a freak that occupies no-man’s land since she fits snugly into neither camp. Stephen eventually finds her place in the war by working for the London Ambulance Column. “Bombs do not trouble the nerves of the invert, but rather that terrible silent bombardment from the batteries of God’s good people.” 8 Book 4 Stephen is now an ambulance driver with the French Army Ambulance Corps, and she meets Mary Llewellyn, a younger fellow driver. They survive a lot of tough wartime assignments together, which brings them closer. Stephen fears for Mary’s safety excessively, and her superiors worry and have them separated. They find a way back to each other. Mary tells Stephen that she has been waiting all of her life for her, and asks to stay with Stephen after the war ends. Stephen agrees. They move in together after the war, and Stephen begins to wonder whether Mary is truly happy with her. Mary’s youth begins to “stand between them.” At the time, Mary is 21. There are a lot of problems in their relationship, and Stephen tells Mary that she can’t bear it any more. But that night they kiss and make up (literally), and “that night they were not divided”--the most famous and explicit line from the entire novel. (313) Book 5 Stephen and Mary begin this book by returning to their home in Paris. They do a lot of couple-y things, including adopting a stray, limping dog. They name him David. A friend named Jonathan Brockett persuades Stephen that she is being unfair to Mary. Stephen has her writing, and Mary has nothing. Stephen is effectively stringing her along. They go to Valerie Seymour’s party--an icon of gay Parisian nightlife--and become friends with the people there. This becomes a recurring social circle for them. Stephen publishes here book to great success back in England. The relationship between Mary and Stephen continues to be strained. One particular passage: “‘I love you--I love you so much …’ she stammered; and she kissed Mary many times on the mouth, but cruelly so that her kisses were pain--the pain in her heart leapt out through her lips: ‘God! It’s too terrible to love like this--it’s hell--there are times when I can’t endure it!’” (371) Mary becomes particularly engrossed in the rather shady nightlife, but this causes here to become increasingly depressed--something Stephen doesn’t know how to handle. One of their friends, Barbara, dies. Barbara’s “friend,” Jamie, then commits suicide. The loss of these two has a strong negative impact on Stephen and Mary, as Stephen turns to Valerie for comfort. Stephen reconnects with Martin Hallam, the friend from earlier in the book (he fell in love with Stephen). Martin now falls in love with Mary. Mary seems to fall for him too, much to the resigned bitterness of Stephen. Martin confronts Stephen, telling her that she is squashing Mary’s spirit, and insists that she hand her over. Stephen picks up her relationship with Valerie to give Mary the impression that she is cheating on her. It works, and Mary feels pushed away. She goes off with martin. The final line of the book is the desperation of Stephen: “‘God,’ she gasped, ‘we believe; we have told You we believe… We have not denied You, then rise up and defend us. Acknowledge us, oh God, before the whole world. Give us also the right to our existence’” COMING OUT UNDER FIRE The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II ALLAN BERUBE Jonathan Villanueva (chp. 1-4), Chelsea Savit (chp. 7-8), Jackson Blum (chp. 9) Chapter 1: Getting In In 1940, encouragement of psychiatric as well as physical exams for screening - Harry Sullivan (also homosexual) developed screening procedure 1940  Circular No. 1 9  Psychiatric screening with no references to homosexuality - Homosexuality was a mental disorder WWI exclusion based on physiological disorders or asylum/prison records In 1921, men who had “degenerate” or female physique, or had sexual perversions were excluded Association of gay men with mental illness Military could make someone a man Screened for people susceptible to mental breakdowns 1942-regulation defining homosexual and normal person - Included category of “sexual perversions” - Linked homosexuality with effeminacy or sexual passivity (receptive anal) - Ignored gay masculine or “active” men Gay men would be subject to ridicule, affect general morale Lots of self-declared gay men, but had limited confidentiality - Ethical dilemma for physicians - People would be stigmatized, ruined lives But it was easy for lesbians to enter Gay men couldn’t serve because they were mentally ill - Defined the sex act as the problem, not identity Chapter 2: Fitting In Exclusion based on negative gender stereotypes Single sex environment, created own sexual culture - But with little privacy, prevented anything from becoming overtly sexual Erotic undertones of buddy relationships Lots of homosexual tension - Casual sex wasn't queer if it was just between buddies Women could be more physically affectionate with each other, but butch/femme relationships were suspicious - “Special friends” Publicly, military condemned homosexual activity - But more understanding within Women’s Army Corps (WAC) - Homosexuality as environmental problem - Lectures on homosexuality for “mental health” or “sex hygiene” There was tolerance for gay soldiers who were good soldiers Effeminate men accepted roles to integrate themselves with his group People tried to be more masculine, but not everyone Gay cliques formed Butch women were more accepted than effeminate men - Butch lesbians  motor vehicle operators, grease monkeys Effeminate men did women's work - Secretary, typist, stenographer Stereotyped duties Chapter 3: GI Drag: A Gay Refuge Drag as entertainment Social space where gay men expanded their own social culture Shows had double meaning - Reinforced hetero gender roles but also had homosexual meanings and acts Army officials didn't want GI drag stigmatized like in popular culture - TITA this is the army - Tradition of masculinity vs. moral degeneracy - Soldier show campaigns of 1918-1919  Golden age of female impersonation  Promoted “acquaintance and friendship” according to YMCA Female impersonation “necessary” because there were no women 10 - Argument grew weaker when women entered in 1942 - Rise in all-female shows by WAC Gay men helped shape the military wartime theatre world - Stereotyped roles Gay men used camp to put them in control - Also as a form of self defense - Create an alternative moral order and culture that put gays in control 90 jam a banana in his mouth?! Drag was a balancing act, could go too far and be exposed as queer Performers attracted sexual attention Shows let gays make friends with each other Tactical advantage  let men practice a form of illusion and camouflage Chipped away barriers separating them from each other and their heterosexual buddies Chapter 4: “The Gang’s All Here”: The Gay Life and Vice Control People didn't talk directly about homosexuality Devised identification methods to find each other More freedom off base and in cities Military police followed GIs into towns Gay bars moved to the center of gay life White nightlife different than minority nightlife Sailor stereotype 110 Gay civilians threw wartime parties People had to be discreet Hookup culture in military life - Gay cruising - Everyone was on the move - But sometimes people fell in love Letters to each other were censored Vice control sometimes helped gay men find establishments - Posted lists of off-limit establishments Gay bars evolved with the crackdowns - Alternating periods of crackdowns and openness Lines of communication underground but opening up Chapter 7: Comrades in Arms Stereotypes of gay men: sissies, effeminate, timid, weak, soft. The combat soldier was portrayed as everything the gay soldier was not: aggressively masculine and sexual, brave, strong, and tough. - As a result, some gay infantrymen felt a ‘constant compelling need to prove how virile [they were.]’ (178) - Some other gay men felt especially compelled to join the fight against the Nazis, who were exterminating homosexuals. Despite the stereotypes of folklore, it was really hard to just characterize all infantrymen, heterosexual or not. At the end of the day, all were able-bodied men, mostly citizen soldiers in their teens and twenties, who had been trained for combat and sent into battle. Gay men who fought in combat during WWII were able to experience what it would be like to live a public life as a homosexual without experiencing prejudice and discrimination. - Manpower shortages forced Army officials to relax the enforcement of their antigay policies and the prohibitions on some homosexual behavior, recognizing that they could not afford to lose men who became good soldiers.  For example, in 1942 the Army began to reexamine men rejected for venereal disease, choosing to treat them instead on induction. (179)  Part of the reason was because of a 1943 War Department directive on sodomists acknowledging that because “the Army will be serving during the period of the war in many parts of the world where the standards of morality may be at 11 variance with our own,” it was to be expected that some men “will submit to unnatural practices.” (180) Especially tolerant in the Women’s Army Corps, where the personnel shortage was most acute. (180) - Gay men who did female impersonations had an indispensable role to play in combat. Some of these soldiers entertained the troops as soon as an area was secured. (185) - “Live and let live” attitude pervaded in many of the combat areas. (186)  Especially because many heterosexual soldiers felt deep camaraderies with their fellow “buddies.”  Buddy relationships easily slipped into romantic and even sexual intimacies between men that they themselves often did not perceive to be “queer” (188) - Situational homosexuality  Infantrymen sometimes had sex with men and considered this slippage to not be queer. These were just their only sexual outlets (192). - Combat soldiers often responded to each other’s personal losses with the deepest respect and understanding, allowing many gay GIs to express openly their grief over the deaths of boyfriends or lovers.  Many still feared for their exposure, so they bottled up their grief. Gay men, simply by doing what they were expected to do, they powerfully challenged the stereotypes that portrayed homosexuals as poor soldiers, proving to their heterosexual buddies, other gay soldiers, and themselves that they would not let each other down. Chapter 8: Fighting Another War Still, despite chapter 7’s argument, some gay servicemen found American guns pointed at them The discharge system could drag any GI whose homosexuality became known or even suspected into a seemingly endless maze of unexpected humiliations and punishments. - Psychiatrists were often understanding, but officers who conducted interrogations were not. Their job was to extract confessions and the names of other homosexuals by systematically destroying a suspect’s emotional defenses.  Sexual humiliation – one of the interrogators’ most powerful weapons for getting at the “naked truth” beneath the suspects’ denials.  The systematic violation of their dignity and trust made many GIs talk, but at a terrible cost to their self-respect. - Psychiatric wards of military hospitals held suspected homosexuals until their discharge.  Some gay men “camped” to entertain others  Some guards threatened the men’s lives. Some guards were sadistic and subjected the gays to psychological torture. Other guards believed that homosexual inmates were available for them for sexual services and abused their power accordingly (220-221).  24-hour surveillance Interrogations - “Signed confessions were the suspects ultimate act of surrender and the prize of the interrogation.” (208) - Gay men and lesbians who held up under such intense grilling devised on-the-spot tactics to defend themselves.  Some denied knowing other gay people or used evasion to delay naming names, hoping their endurance would outlast the interrogators’ persistence - Interrogators tried to weaken suspects by making them describe their relationships as an addiction rather than as a form of love. (209)  “True” or “confirmed” homosexuals were the addicts, their sexual practices the “habits,” and their partners the innocent victims seduced into a sexual underworld that threatened to destroy their lives.  The lesbian couple that consisted of a “butch” and a “girlfriend” partner was redefined by interrogators so that the butch was the “addict” and the girlfriend was the seduced “victim.” 12  Officers used these categories not to judge who was guilty and who was innocent, as in a trial, but to determined who was more likely to be a confirmed pervert. Witch hunts - Drove many gay men in the military to compare their experiences to victims of the Nazis Chapter 9: Rights, Justice, and a New Minority Many gay soldiers received undesirable or “blue” discharges and stripped of awards, medals, rank, and uniform o Lost GI Bill benefits, had to pay for their own education o Unhirable, ineligible for unemployment compensation o Given to about 50,000 soldiers of all types Campaign to correct the injustices forced upon blue-discharge veterans, which included gays and blacks, was very public Families were counseled to deal with their sons being discharged for being “perverts” and “psychopaths”. Veterans often relied on the kindness of strangers to get by. Gay men with blue discharges supported each other. Tense period of tolerance from ’45-’47 when many homosexuals were granted honorable discharges or had their bad discharges upgraded. Gays had new pride for serving their country and sense of entitlement for GI benefits Families were counseled to deal with their sons being discharged for being “perverts” and “psychopaths”. Many gays did marry and have families Gays formed homosocial communities similar to those of the army Military encouraged gays to adopt a stronger identity when it identified people as homosexual rather than narrowly focusing on the act of sodomy Antigay hysteria of the 1950s was a departure from the more liberal social practices that had been set in motion by the war THE LAVENDER SCARE The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government DAVID K. JOHNSON McLane Ritzel (intro-chp. 3) and Chelsea Savit (chp. 4-7) Introduction: The Lavender Scare referred to the persecution of homosexuals in the U.S. in the 1950s, which paralleled the anti-communist campaign under Senator Joseph McCarthy, and led to a purge of gay men and lesbians employed by federal agencies. Homosexuals in the military were considered “security risks” because they might be in danger of blackmail and were therefore considered unemployable by the federal government. The dismissal of homosexuals continued up until the 1970s when, with the help of homosexual civil rights groups, the courts ruled that the government must show some “rational nexus” between the private behavior of employees and their ability to serve in government positions. During this time, there was not a single case of a homosexual being blackmailed by a foreign power. Although the government was successful in eliminating thousands of suspected homosexuals from the government, gay men and lesbians began to organize themselves politically to question authority and challenge government on what they believed was unjust government policy, and formed the foundation for the early gay rights movement. 13 Specific points from book: President Harry Truman’s advisors wrote that the country was more concerned about the charges of homosexuals in the Government than about Communists. McCarthy’s antigay purges lasted longer than his tenure The lack of historian attention to antigay campaigns is not a reflection of a lack of public discussion at the time The terms “homosexual” and “sexual pervert” were used by the State Department to refer to “men of unconventional morality” with “habits that make them especially vulnerable to blackmail.” Just one homosexual encounter would qualify someone as a security risk making it an easy offense to prove The Lavender Scare inspired the founding of the first U.S. gay organization and the radicalization of the movement in Washington in the 1960s. Chapter 1: “Peurifoy’s Revelation” The Politics of the Purges Senator McCarthy believed that if homosexuals were in groups, they presented a larger problem. Deputy Undersecretary for Administration John Peurifoy (under McCarthy) announced that 91 homosexuals had been dismissed from the State Department, and then public debate and congressional investigations took place throughout 1950 that dealt with the presence of homosexuals in government and their connection to Communists. The government believed that homosexuals or “sexual perverts” were just as dangerous as Communists. The “Peurifoy revelation” became an issue that expanded well beyond Capitol Hill and seemed to lend credibility to McCarthy’s vague charges and strengthen his public support and standing. McCarthy’s charges were all from a list of the House Appropriations Committee during a 1947 investigation of the State Department’s security program. The effort to shift McCarthy’s efforts from “cardcarrying Communists” to “security risks” (like homosexuals) quickly became public under Senator Tydings who worked to recast the issue as one of mental health rather than national security. To McCarthy and other Americans, homosexuals and Communists formed questionable social cliques and were made up of psychologically disturbed individuals. In McCarthy’s famous speech in Wheeling, WV, he said that the big “difference between the Western Christian world and the atheistic Communist world is not political, it is moral.” Promoting immorality was seen as part of Communism’s plot to quickly facilitate the moral degeneracy of America. There was no systematic attempt to purge homosexuals. Potential IDs from this chapter: Homintern = homosexual intellectuals and elite were thought to have made up a large global network or homosexual community in the literary and artistic world. Chapter 2: “This Used to be a Very Gay City” Lafayette Park and the Sex Crime Panic The Depression and the New Deal transformed the relationship of American citizens and the federal government. This relationship fostered an expectation on the part of Americans that government should solve problems like unemployment, poverty, and labor unrest. This way of urbanizing set the social and economic foundation crucial to the development of gay and lesbian subcultures. Washington was a boomtown in 1930s and 1940s and had a large gay subculture. By 1940s, the city was being referred to as the nation’s “Number One Boomtown.” Washington also quickly acquired a reputation as a city populated by more women than men. People migrated to Washington for economic reasons yes, but mostly for sexual opportunities and a means of participating in the city’s vibrant gay subculture. Lafayette Park formed the epicenter of Washington’s gay male world in the early 20th C. featuring rooming houses, restaurants, and cultural centers of gay social life within the nation’s capital. WWII accelerated the process that had created urban and professional environments and thereby allowed a gay and lesbian culture to flourish during the New Deal in Washington. Alan Bérubé says WWII was a kind of “a nationwide coming out experience.” WHY? Because the wartime experience and atmosphere in Washington fostered an attitude of tolerance toward different kinds of sexual experimentation. By 1948 (considered year everyone in U.S. was worried about homosexuality), with changes from New Deal and WWII in place, Americans felt the country’s moral codes were loosening and homosexuality was becoming 14 more visible. There were many newspaper stories of postwar sex crime. There was no law in place, so in February of 1948, Congress held hearings on need for sexual psychopath law in Washington looking towards other states to serve as models. Kinsey’s study (see Chauncey’s Thursday, October 4 lecture). By 1950, U.S. and D.C. had an intricate and effective system of laws, tactics, and personnel to uncover homosexuals that would become enforcement mechanisms during the Lavender Scare. The war was a period of sexual experimentation and loosening of societal norms, but this very openness and visibility led to a powerful cultural backlash. Chapter 3: “Cookie Pushers in Striped Pants” The Lavender Lads in the State Department The powerful undersecretary of state for Franklin Roosevelt was Sumner Welles. Secretary of State Cordell Hull couldn’t stand the man, and the resignation of Welles was reported to be the result of a power struggle between the two men. But the resignation was really a result of Welles’ “sexual propositioning” of several African American porters on a return trip from Washington, one which Hull was not able to make due to an ailing sickness. The press got a hold of the story and used it as evidence for the “ninety-one homosexuals” supposedly controlling Washington. Popular satires on the Foreign Service equated homosexuality with weakness. Because the position of diplomats was more focused on appeasement (entertaining foreign dignitaries) rather than action in war, diplomats were viewed as less masculine and ineffective, and became referred to as “cookie pushers in striped pants.” The State Department responded to this public perception by strengthening the internal security system. Inspectors were given special training sessions on “methods uncovering homosexuals.” The department had a loyalty/security system, two actually, one for political deviants and one for sexual deviants. The State Department’s antigay campaign was extensive. Chapter 4: “Fairies and Fair Dealers” The Immoral Bureaucracy Key Points: By crystallizing the association between the federal bureaucracy and immorality, the Wherry investigation ensured an expansion of the Lavender Scare o Inspired many government agencies to step up efforts to uncover and remove homosexuals from their ranks o Convinced his Senate colleagues to launch a full-scale congressional inquiry into homosexuals in the government Potential IDs: Joseph McCarthy Solidified the association between homosexuals and Communists Fought the New Deal bureaucracy for years, then turned to the antigay campaign Kenneth Wherry Republican senator of Nebraska Played a key role in launching the State Department’s quiet purge of homosexuals in 1947, became one of the driving forces behind the extension of the Lavender Scare to the entire federal government His investigation in spring of 1950 into DC’s homosexual life represented a widening of the Lavender Scare to Washington and the government o Brought the Lavender Scare to the public, solidifying an association between homosexuals and government bureaucrats  Previously, the federal workforce was long considered a site of gender nonconformity Represents a Red/Lavender Scare leader who feared that Americans were becoming a nation of immoral, materialistic, bureaucrats. Advocated a return to a “simpler past” before the advent of large-scale government bureaucracy since FDR in 1940s. Lieutenant Roy Blick Head of the Metropolitan Police vice squad in DC, subpoenaed by Wherry 15 Made many exaggerated claims about leading a thorough investigation into homosexuals (“claimed to have organized files on Washington’s homosexuals,” made estimates about the numbers of homosexuals in Washington, etc.) Many saw him as an ambitious local police officer looking for a bigger budget and national recognition Had 4 men committed to arresting homosexuals full-time, and wanted a “lesbian squad.” (87) Estimated that there were 5,000 homosexuals in Washington – this was an implicit repudiation of the Kinsey study o Despite their ridiculousness, his figures became widely accepted in American popular culture Alfred Kinsey, the Kinsey Report A biologist, professor of entomology and zoology, and sexologist Most famous for the “Kinsey Reports” (“Sexual Behavior in the Human Male” [1948] and “Sexual Behavior in the Human Female” [1953]) o 4% of white adult males in US were “exclusively homosexual” o 37% of white adult males in US had at least one homosexual experience Central feature of the Lavender Scare was debate over the truth and usefulness of Kinsey’s findings Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer Authors of best-selling exposé Washington Confidential (1951) that sold more than 150,000 hardcover copies in its first 3 weeks of publication o Reported that “there are at least 6,000 homosexuals on the government payroll, most of them known, and these comprise only a fraction of the total of their kind in the city” o Suggested that the city was “a garden of pansies” o This book tarnished the reputation of Washington and its bureaucrats In their expanded exposé, U.S.A. Confidential (1952), they increased the homosexual figure to 10,000 o D.C. was a “femmocracy” and that “lesbianism [was] scandalously rampant” and that women who invaded the male workspace were to blame for an inversion of the natural order Chapter 6: “Let’s Clean House,” The Eisenhower Security Program “Let’s Clean House” = Republican Party campaign slogan for 1952 presidential election (Republican Presidential candidate was Dwight Eisenhower with VP Richard Nixon) Key points in this chapter: Issues of gender and sexuality permeated the Eisenhower-Stevenson contest o Notion that Stevenson was a homosexual was so widespread that many gay men at the time considered him “the first gay candidate for president” Initiatives by the Eisenhower administration (especially with McLeod and his “Miscellaneous M Unit”) sought to expel homosexuals from both the national bureaucracy AND the international bureaucracy (the UN) Evidence of a conflation of immorality and security risk—the Eisenhower security program set out not to prove guilt or disloyalty but to prevent potential disloyalty Potential IDs from this chapter: Executive Order 10450 Issued by Eisenhower replacing Truman’s loyalty system with an entirely new security system, with new criteria and procedures for ensuring that the employment of every federal employee was “clearly consistent with the interests of national security” Signaled a change in emphasis from issues of political loyalty to broader notions of general character and suitability (“reliable,” “trustworthy,” and “of good conduct and character”) 16 Order delineated specific proscribed behaviors: “habitual use of intoxicants to excess, drug addiction, or sexual addiction.” Unprecedented inclusion of a specific reference to “sexual perversion.” Under the Eisenhower administration, national security would require not only political loyalty but also proper morality. R. W. Scott McLeod New head of the State Department’s Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs Personified the Eisenhower administration’s aggressive approach to security Promised a “crackdown on homosexuals” o The swiftness of the firings suggested that the Truman administration had protected homosexuals and highlighted a new “get tough” policy aimed more at immorality than disloyalty Treated homosexuals as a special class of security risk. Standard was to be absolute—one offense meant expulsion. Miscellaneous M Unit Created under the security administration of McLeod to focus on moral deviation, but it was overwhelmingly focused on homosexuality Many techniques – “any unusual traits of speech, appearance and mannerisms” Would then confront the individual and attempt to procure a confession, offering the “opportunity” of a polygraph exam to the recalcitrant. Two possible results of a homosexual investigation—they cleared the person of charges or forced him to resign Chapter 7: “Interrogations and Disappearances,” Gay and Lesbian Subculture in 1950s Washington Key points in this chapter: There was a “subdued hysteria”—all homosexuals lived in fear. If they hadn’t already been interrogated, they wondered anxiously when their time would come. Caused the undoing of close gay and lesbian networks, since merely socializing with known homosexuals was often sufficient cause for dismissal. Losing one’s career and being forced into another occupation was a common fate of gay men and lesbians. Many suffered from long-term unemployment. Homosexual behavior was seen as a temptation to be resisted, not an inborn characteristic or orientation. The purges enforced a rigid homo/heterosexual divide. They thus facilitated the demise of an older sexual system based on gender identity and encouraged the classification of individuals based on their “sexual orientation.” o Previously, not all homosexual contact was stigmatized, so long as they performed the “insertive” role. Purges played a pivotal role in the formation of an organized gay movement, both at the national and local levels Slight improvements in rights of gay men and lesbians (Kelly Counsels and Guarro victory) gave hopes that the best chance for legal reform might be in the courts Potential IDs from this chapter: Madeleine Tress This chapter explores the example of this female bureaucrat’s experience with a demeaning lesbian interrogation, which was typical of what happened to thousands of men and women who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., in the 1950s One-encounter policy Men who had only occasionally dabbled in homosexual behavior were also at risk for expulsion from their jobs, because of the ultimatum in Executive Order 10450 that one homosexual encounter was sufficient grounds for dismissal. 17 Harry Hay and the Mattachine Society First sustained gay political organization in the U.S. Named for Matachinos, masked court jesters of the Italian Renaissance who were free to speak the truth Harry Hay was the founder of the Mattachine Society; was motivated by stories of government purges. Saw that McCarthy was looking for a new “scapegoat,” and he knew it was going to be the gays because “blacks were already organized, and Jews could not be attacked because of the ‘painful example of Germany.’” (170) Nascent movement articulated a sustained critique of the federal government’s security program and its effect on gays and lesbians throughout the 1950s Chapters in Los Angeles, NY, Chicago, and other cities Republicans called the party of the “homo-haters” Purges created a uniquely potent level of frustration and sense of injustice in the nation’s capital Kelly Counsels 1952 court victory of Edward Kelly, who had lost his job because of Frank Manthos, a vice officer who had arrested him for solicitation for a homosexual act New rules of evidence: if there was only one witness to a verbal invitation to sodomy—as was usually the case—the court had to consider that testimony with “great caution.” Evidence of the good character of the defendant had to be considered. Finally, in order to sustain a conviction, the circumstances surrounding the alleged crime had to be corroborated. Played a significant role in impeding convictions in many subsequent gay sex cases and encouraged more men to challenge their arrests. Ernesto Guarro In 1955, encountered Louis Fochett, a morals squad officer, in plainclothes in the bathroom of a theater that was a well-known cruising area near Lafayette Park Fochett then followed him to the theater balcony Guarro, interpreting these as signs of sexual interest, approached Fochett, and touched him below the waist. Fochett asked if he “wanted to take it,” and when he got what he interpreted as an affirmative response he arrested Guarro and charged him with assault. 1956: US Court of Appeals ruled that vice officers who conversed with other men and accompanied them to new venues effectively “gave consent” and therefore could not claim assault. The court even accused him of engaging in a “flirtation” with Guarro. The first duty of a police officer is to prevent crime, the court noted, not create it.