Steve Lewis: Steve Lewis, RadiFairie, is a librarian of sorts in Chicago. This review was originally published in White Crane Journal (#38). It is reprinted with permission from www.whitecranejournal.com online.
In the introduction, Loughery states that this is a “popular” history and not an academic history. And right he is! And honest too. This well crafted history spins a tale spanning the present century, from the earliest, dark forgotten days of our gay and lesbian ancestors in pre-WW1 America through the roaring twenties and the pansy craze, on through the depression days of the thirties into the liberating days of WW2, into the hysteria of the McCarthy era and
the placid Eisenhower years, on through the heady days of the sixties and Stonewall and then into the glorious days of gay liberation and the continuing
tragedy of the AIDS decades. And he puts all this in perspective within the context of the times. What a wondrous roller coaster ride!
Loughery makes judicious use of oral interviews of gay men and women from across the continental USA to weave together the little known or even forgotten
events that laid the foundations for the present generation of gay men and women. With encyclopedic knowledge, he ranges comfortably through the gay
culture of the moment and rarely misses a beat. Whether discussing the popularly of “beer flats” or the writing of Radclyffe Hall, the relationship of Harry
Hays and Will Geer or Randolph Scott and Gary Grant, the music of Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich, the author makes one realize, even if one already knew it, the depth and breath of gay culture, especially gay popular culture.
Though he focuses primarily on gay men, he does not forget the women. In this aspect, he may be one of the first gay historians to bridge the gap separating gay and lesbian histories. Admittedly the focus is primarily on the men, hence the title. However, Loughery lets the women speak. And speak they do!
Barbara Gittings, Phillis Lyon, Pat Bond and countless more pepper this story throughout. And he gives kudos to Evelyn Hooker for her pioneering study of
homosexuals in the fifties. A study just as daring and important as Alfred Kinsey's more extensive research. One could casually drop the name of any gay man or
lesbian and more than likely find them in this book.
Any flaws? Well, yes and no! Not laden down with footnotes and jargon and theory, this book could be disappointing to those who feel they know all the
material already or to those who go scrambling to find the footnotes or endnotes. But again the author has warned us. While I found myself wishing for a more
in depth picture of different segments of the book, [say, the pansy craze], I realized the book would have been far too long and twice as hefty in price, let
alone weight, if he had succumbed to this academicitis.”
This is a great book, therefore, to keep by your bedside and read at leisure or to keep on your gay history book shelf right next to Katz's Gay American
History, Duberman & et al Hidden From History, Chauncey's Gay New York , or the many other seminal local and regional gay social histories that have been
appearing over the last two decades. As the first general history of gays in this century of turbulent change, The Other Side of History paves the way for a more complete picture of gay life, whether in New York or Chicago, California or Florida, Virginia or Indiana.
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