荔枝视频

As 荔枝视频 Pride Week kicks off on Aug. 23, the 荔枝视频 Institute for the Humanities (CIH) is marking the occasion in a meaningful way with its first LGBTQ2S+ Lecture, featuring Dr. George Chauncey, author of the groundbreaking study Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1930.

The Chauncey lecture 鈥� set for 6 p.m. on Friday in the Central Library鈥檚 Patricia A. Whelan Performance Hall 鈥� is entitled Rethinking the Closet: New York Gay Life Before Stonewall.

CIH hopes to make the LGBTQ2S+ Lecture an annual event and they are building an endowment which will allow for this. (You can to the CIH endowment.)

鈥淥nce a year we want to be able to bring in a high-profile speaker on matters of relevance to LGBTQ2S+ studies,鈥� says Dr. Jim Ellis, PhD, CIH director. 鈥淭he 荔枝视频 has a proud history in its attention to LGBTQ2S+ issues and we want to carry that on, with this as a flagship event.鈥�  

• Photo above: Author George Chauncey will speak about Manhattan's Stonewall Riots in his lecture. Credit: Stonewall Inn: New York Public Library CC BY-SA 30; Lawrence Fahey: map of Greenwich Village; George Chauncey: courtesy George Chauncey

Chauncey, today a history professor from Columbia University, published Gay New York in 1994. The book鈥檚 release marked the 25th anniversary of Manhattan鈥檚 Stonewall Riots, widely considered to be the watershed event which led to the gay liberation movement.

Gay New York decisively debunked the notion that, prior to Stonewall, gay culture existed only in the closet, where homosexuals were isolated, invisible and self-loathing. On the contrary, Chauncey uncovered proof of a thriving and publicly visible gay culture in the early part of the 20th century, found in such districts as Harlem, the Bowery and Greenwich Village.

It was post-World War II, in the midst of the Cold War and the communist scare, that gay culture was truly suppressed and criminalized, according to Chauncey鈥檚 research.

Chauncey鈥檚 荔枝视频 lecture comes on the 25th anniversary of Gay New York鈥檚 release and the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

Ellis notes that while Gay New York鈥檚 history ended in 1940, Chauncey鈥檚 upcoming book will be a sequel, examining LGBTQ2S+ life in New York from the post-war period to the Stonewall Riots. The author鈥檚 荔枝视频 talk is expected to offer a preview of sorts to that hotly anticipated work.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a real selling point here, that we had this foundational work 25 years ago and, now, here鈥檚 the followup that takes us to the Stonewall era,鈥� says Ellis.

Gay New York was so influential that Chauncey was brought in to testify as an expert witness in several high-profile gay rights cases. His writings were instrumental in the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 landmark decisions to overturn the nation鈥檚 sodomy laws and legalize gay marriage.

鈥�Gay New York changed everything in terms of our understanding of gay and lesbian history,鈥� Ellis says. 鈥淚t broke open a whole new field.鈥�

Of key significance is the book鈥檚 attention to localized history and archives. 鈥淭here鈥檚 this idea that gay lives were always hidden from history. Bur Chauncey proved that, if you know where to look in the archives, these lives were, in fact, recorded.鈥�

鈥淪econdly, we often think of history as being progressive 鈥� that things are always getting better and we鈥檙e marching towards equality.鈥� Gay New York disproved this, demonstrating instead that New York鈥檚 thriving gay culture was set back immeasurably during the moral panic of the Cold War.

Ellis feels that in the current political climate it鈥檚 the CIH鈥檚 responsibility to highlight LGBTQ2S+ issues. 鈥淚f you look at the historical moment we鈥檙e living in now, with the rise of right-wing populism 鈥� which is often quite hostile to minority rights 鈥� there鈥檚 a real importance in standing up for equality and the rights of those belonging to minority communities,鈥� he says.  

鈥淧art of the CIH mission is the importance of civic conversation. Discussing these issues that matter to Calgarians is vital for civic discourse.鈥�

for the Rethinking the Closet lecture.