nobody_knows's Full Review: Charles Kaiser - The Gay Metropolis: 1940-1996
I was born to poor Scottish gypsies and stolen by (or sold to, I never knew) a middle class, white couple from the Midwest. I was raised a German and never knew my real Scots roots.
It wasn't until my early 40's that I gradually learned the truth - through two Scots who had only my best interest at heart. My husband, Pip, and my boss, Bob, were involved in a three way phone conversation with me, and when I mentioned that I no longer wanted to be a German, I just didn't seem to fit in, they encouraged me to become a born-again Scot. It was like a tremendous weight had been lifted from my soul. This explained my irrational love of bag-pipes. This is why I couldn't stomach weak lagers but would happily put away pints and pints of Keith's IPA. I even developed (albeit briefly) a liking of Scotch whiskey. My happiness in this new-found ethnicity knew no bounds. I longed for the hills of Nova Scotia (I'm not much of a traveler, and Scotland seemed too far) reveled in its music, dance and song. I had a kilt made for me of my newly declared family tartan (I adopted Pip's family tartan - Sinclair - since I know not from whence my "real" family came). I even bought a child's book of Spot written in Gaelic so I could try to learn this incomprehensible but lilting language. The freedom and joy I feel as I drift farther and farther from my German upbringing is freeing and uplifting. No longer do I have to feel the guilt of the Holocaust - that wasn't my people. I never have to listen to another tuba ensemble again. Never, ever. I can stop lightening my hair color . . . well, let's not go that far. I mean, some tradition is good, yes?
What does this have to do with my topic: The Gay Metropolis by Charles Kaiser? Gee, nothing I guess. But I did want to get that off my mind.
The Gay Metropolis is a history of Gay America from 1940 to 1996. Mr. Kaiser has taken us through fifty plus years, sharing gossip, explaining what it was like for homosexuals and lesbians in the U.S. He touches the high and low points for gays, describes the life styles of well- known and lesser-known homosexuals. As far as a history book, it's like nothing I ever studied in school. It is interesting, absorbing and informative. I learned so much while reading this book and found Charles Kaiser to have a straightforward and entertaining style of writing.
There were definite stages in the growth of Gay Pride throughout this period, beginning with a fully closeted period, where gays were free to express themselves with themselves, but in the company of heterosexuals, especially family, were forced to fit a mold that was not at all compatible with their inner selves. (Stretching things a bit I guess you could say that being a Scot in a German household was similar - although I didn't have a place to be myself during the early years.)
Here is a quick summation of The Gay Metropolis, decade by decade.
In the Forties, being homosexual meant being invisible to the straight world. Gays were able to be themselves at private homes and clubs that most "straight" people knew nothing about. Even so, the press occasionally reported sensational crimes of passion that were tied to homosexuals. Sadly, the day-to-day news which was not sensational, was not reported. Understandably people getting such a one-sided view of homosexuality were not encouraged to look upon gays as "normal."
During World War II openly gay men and women were not allowed in the service. For men who were rejected as unfit, the American Field Service (AFS) provided an opportunity for men to serve their country right on the front lines. Men with physical disabilities, and gay men alike, joined the AFS and, among other duties, drove ambulances in Egypt, some of them even providing their own ambulances. Little was ever said of these men who risked their lives for the U.S. and yet they contributed mightily to the war effort.
The Fifties, according to Gore Vidal, was "the bad decade." Certainly with the popularization of television, with insipid shows like Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver, moralistic attitudes kept homosexuality in the shadows. Censorship was an attempt to whitewash human behavior; conformity was most sought after and anything "different" was suspect. Interestingly, the best in the arts and entertainment was usually produced by gay writers, artists, choreographers and actors. At the same time as the McCarthy war on Communism, those in power tried to root out and discredit homosexuals with the same zeal - ironic since some of the most powerful men of the '50s were probably latent homosexuals themselves. There has been much speculation about J. Edgar Hoover, Roy Cohn and Joseph McCarthy himself as to whether they hid their own homosexuality while lashing out at gays.
While elsewhere in the country homosexuality was repressed, New York was at the forefront of gay liberation. There were bathhouses and private clubs where gay men could hang out without fear of discovery by heterosexuals. Four important events in the '50s for Gay Pride have to be the Kinsey Report; the founding of the Mattachine Society in Los Angeles; the work of Dr. Evelyn Hooker, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose research disproved the accepted belief of that time that homosexuality was a mental disorder; and fourth, the publication of the book The Homosexual in America written by Edward Sagarin. I was particularly touched by these words of Sagarin: "We appeal to people to be tolerant of others - in other words to be willing to stand them. . . I can't see why anyone should be struggling to be tolerated. If people are not good, they should not be tolerated, and if they are good, they should be accepted." This, to me, is the definitive answer to all forms of bigotry or intolerance.
The Sixties brought tremendous change: to blacks, to women, and to the gay community. This decade saw the baby boomers coming of age - the largest generation of adolescents that had ever been produced in America. It was their energy that brought such change to the country. Because of the birth control pill, sex was no longer repressed for fear of pregnancy. This change in attitude in the heterosexual community, that sex could be indulged in for fun without procreation, made the sexual antics of homosexuals more understandable and began to legitimize sex solely for pleasure.
As the general population began to accept homosexuality as mentally healthy and not "deviant," gays started fighting openly for their rights.
In 1969 a clash between the police and the customers at the Stonewall Inn in New York demonstrated just how fiercely gays were willing to fight. When police raided the gay bar they expected those in the club to "go quietly." Surprisingly, the gay clientele chose to fight back. What began as a simple raid turned into a three night free-for-all. Something seemed to have snapped in the gay community and these repressed, sometimes despised, men and women finally confronted their critics and showed the world they were human beings - deserving of respect, acceptance and understanding. It was a fitting end to the decade.
Gay Pride in the '70s had its champions: Phil Donahue, Dr. George Weinberg, Mayor Ed Koch, Sarah Waters and many others; and its detractors: most notably Joseph Epstein and California state senator John Briggs.
Among the most important happening in the '70s, on December 15, 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) announced its 13-0 vote to remove homosexuality from its list of psychiatric disorders. Before this decision, there were gays who believed their sexual proclivities were abnormal, wrong and/or dirty. Having the APA come out advocating so strongly for the acceptance of homosexuality as normal certainly helped the cause of Gay Pride immensely.
By the '80s anti-discrimination legislation and corporate policies had begun to snowball. To temper this good news, according to Charles Kaiser, three separate events assured that Gay Pride had not yet won the war: Ronald Reagan was elected president, reversing the '60s message of peace and brotherhood for all and ushering in more than 20 years of conspicuous consumption and a complete lack of concern for ones fellow man. The selfishness of the common man during the Reagan/Bush years put a halt to American good will on many fronts. As Governor of California, Reagan had publicly fired two top aides merely because they were gay. He also threatened to veto any attempts to repeal the state's sodomy law. (To his credit, Reagan did speak out against California's Prop. 6 in 1978, which would have prohibited homosexuals from teaching in any public schools.)
When John Lennon was shot and killed in front of his New York home, U.S. citizens had lost one of the premier champions of peace, love and brotherhood.
Ronaly Crumpley shot and killed two men and wounded six more in Greenwich Village. Greenwich Village gays had never seen this measure of violence against them before.
AIDS first appeared in 1981. The Gay Metropolis deals with this subject in depth and with many anecdotes, warm, funny, terribly tragic and heart breaking. From the moment AIDS came on the scene, the world of homosexuality changed; bath houses were closed almost over night; men who had previously had multiple sex partners began to look toward a more monogamous lifestyle.
Gay Pride in the early '90s had a tremendous push from the internet. Suddenly people could interact via the Web - unseen by critics and bigots - and found a wonderful solidarity at their finger tips. Computers helped enormously to spread the message of Gay Pride among the community.
Many today question the lavish, overt lifestyle of gay men, particularly those who parade as "queens" wearing outrageous outfits and behaving outlandishly. Questions, too, arise over the perception of gay men and women as being promiscuous, lacking the monogamy somewhat common in heterosexual partnerships. This book addresses these issues and explains much more as well, with regard to the gay lifestyle. Bottom line? There are as many gay lifestyles as there are gay people. Being gay is no different from being straight, aside from sexual preferences. Gays can be loud or quiet, outrageous or subdued, naughty or nice. Gays have the capacity for every emotion, every standard of behavior, every feeling that a human being can have. To differentiate homosexuals from heterosexuals is the stupid, futile act of people who do not understand the nature of human kind.
Imagine being forced to live a lie most, if not all, of your childhood. Imagine that those around you - whom you love, trust and depend on - say terrible things about your hidden self. Imagine the self loathing you might have to hide. Imagine never being able to be the person you are, you were born to be, your heart longs to be. Pretty scary, huh?
In addition to the information and anecdotes, what impressed me about The Gay Metropolis was that it seemed to intuit my questions and as soon as one entered my head, I would turn the page and find my answer. This happened more than once and gave me a feeling that Mr. Kaiser understood his readers as well as he understood the subject of his book. I learned so much about the gay community in the U.S. and have gained an even greater sense of acceptance and admiration for these proud men and women.
While equating being a Scot with being gay is a vast oversimplification, it's the only example of bigotry I have ever personally encountered. To be honest, it doesn't even come close.
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