A Social History of being Queer

[Aya McCabre]

I am attempting to research queer history, but all I'm finding online is a political history..... what became legal when, who was elected, who died..... and that tells you nothing about what peoples live were/are actually like. There are countries right now where it's illegal to be gay but in practice no one cares, and also countries where it's not specifically illegal but if you're even suspected of being queer you can be tortured and thrown in jail for life under public decency laws. So I really have nothing to go on in terms of what all this politics actually means.
There are a few films and documentaries (but none of them are freely available unless you're willing to break the law) and there are probably some books out there (again, I doubt I'll find many freely available and it really depends on where you live) but there's nothing available online for anyone to access for free.

So.... two questions:

1. Does anyone know of any of the sort of resources I'm looking for (even if they're hard to find/not freely available) or if there's already a project to collect them? All suggestions welcome.

2. If I were to go ahead and set up the sort of site I've been trying and failing to find, would anyone maybe be interested in writing something or maybe going on camera and talking about what it's like being queer right now wherever you are in the world? I'm really interested in setting this up if I can get enough content and support.

[TraceElement]

I don't know if this helps, but I have read bits and pieces of "Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to Present" by Neil Miller and from what i read it discusses LGBT lives from Ocsar Wilde to present day.

[Pseudojim]

I would suggest biographies of prominent people would be a good source to find out what it has been like in different eras to be in the public spotlight and also homosexual. If you can find biographies of people like oscar wilde, alan turing, john gielgud, and allen ginsberg that about covers the early twentieth century.

as far as what it's like as an every day joe, it's not as easy, and there's a LOT to cover. More than just one culture too... Early twentieth century berlin, for example, was extremely tolerant of homosexual behaviour, and became somewhat of a mecca for those who were elsewhere persecuted, before the rise of the third reich.

in short, i don't know, what EXACTLY is it you want to study? If you narrow down what it is you're looking for precisely, i might be able to give you some specific titles

[fiddlemiddle]

Well you can get alot information on that subject on ancient Greece. Greece then was so tolerant of it, and that all changed when Christianity became the state religion in the 4th or 5th century when it was under the Roman empire/Eastern Roman Empire.

[Pseudojim]

Originally Posted by fiddlemiddle

Well you can get alot information on that subject on ancient Greece. Greece then was so tolerant of it, and that all changed when Christianity became the state religion in the 4th or 5th century when it was under the Roman empire/Eastern Roman Empire.

heh, not only was greece tolerant of it, male-male anal sex was considered the purest form of love amongst many philosophers, and vaginal penetration was considered an unfortunate but necessary chore...... I get the feeling certain scholars of the time may have been a certain way inclined =P

[fiddlemiddle]

This is what Plato the Ancient Greek philosopher stated:“Homosexuality, is regarded as shameful by barbarians and by those who live under despotic governments just as philosophy is regarded as shameful by them, because it is apparently not in the interest of such rulers to have great ideas engendered in their subjects, or powerful friendships or passionate love-all of which homosexuality is particularly apt to produce."”

[MMAnick]

What are you doing this research for?

[MyDecember]

Logo TV has a lot of good social documentaries.

The Butch Factor

Bear Nation

The Butch Factor is an amazing social documentary about what it means to be a man is the Gay community. Bear nation is a good follow up to The Butch Factor because you see how in that search for that masculinity has divided the community with the Bear social group.

I hope this was what you're looking for.

[Frer3]

Look up the Stonewall Riots. That was probably the most pivotal point in Queer History as far as the fight for rights goes. It was the first time LGBT people actually fought back against police oppression.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Frer3

Look up the Stonewall Riots. That was probably the most pivotal point in Queer History as far as the fight for rights goes. It was the first time LGBT people actually fought back against police oppression.

I'm going to second this, there's also a fictionalised movie about the riots, and life leading up to the actual riots called Stonewall (1995) which I found to give a lot of good perspective. Also Look up Harvey Milk, the situation is political but there's a lot of interesting things there that give an insight into how San Francisco became one of the largest gay cities in the US.
Also look into the purple hand, it was a symbol of an uprising against "a series of news articles disparaging LGBT people in San Francisco's gay bars and clubs"