Shainu George
Response 5 of 5
Ethnicity, Sexuality and Race in Defining the People of New York
This book focused on how NYC played a major role in the homosexual world. This book challenged three myths in the gay world. The first myth is isolation. One would assume that there was no place for gays in America in the 1900’s. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. By 1930, gay neighborhoods were created in Greenwich, Harlem and Time Square in order to escape the anti- gay hostility that was present everywhere else in the city. The second myth was invisibility. Contrary to popular belief, gay men boldly announced their presence through their red ties and bleached hair. The final myth is internalization. There was a large amount of gay men who rather than internalize the hatred that they received from others, would boldly announce their homosexuality. This theme of sexuality is relevant to this class particularly because gay people make up a population of NYC. Gay people felt more inclined to stay in the city over other places. The gay neighborhoods in the city became a safe haven for homosexuals. Homosexuals were more inclined to move into Greenwich Village, at a certain point, than any other neighborhood because of its tolerance for nonconformity or eccentricity. This is specific to NYC because New Yorkers are more likely to accept ‘outsiders’ compared to most other places. The term ‘outsiders’ could refer to anything from immigrant populations to gay people.
Questions:
1) Where did gay women stay during this time period?
2) Did heterosexuals live in the gay enclaves when they were popular? How did they feel being surrounded by so many gays?
