The Other Side of Silence: Men's Lives & Gay Identities - A Twentieth-Century History

by John Loughery

The only study of gay male history covering the United States since World War I.

Based on hundreds of interviews, new and classic texts, and little-known archival sources, an award-winning writer offers the first narrative history to consider signal moments, general trs, and the multiple meanings of "gay identity" in the whole United States from World War I to the AIDS era and "queer" activism.

The most readable, authoritative, and comprehensive investigation ever, The Other Side of Silence combines history and anecdote, politics and theory to reveal the personalities and textures of a largely unknown culture. A dramatic chronicle of seventy-five years of persecution and accomplishment, the book addresses both in equal witch hunts in schools and the military, crusades of psychiatrists, the resistance long before Stonewall, the inspiring pioneers and activists.

From Newport and the private-party networks of Nebraska and Florida's Emma Jones Society to gay rodeos, athletes, and support groups, here are first-hand accounts of what it has meant (and might mean in the future) to be a sexual outsider in the United States.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer, Gay, Biography Memoir, Queer Studies

527 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 1998

Reviews

[Michael Flick]

Author fairly covers the essence of male homosexuality in 20th century America.

[H. Givens]

I skimmed this for a class last fall, and am just now getting around to reading it in-depth. Upon full reading, though, I'm much more impressed than I was the beginning. Loughery pares a complex history down to a coherent narrative that neither imposes a "progress" story nor bemoans "culture nowadays." He gives a factual overview, but fills it with emotional stories. He focuses on a central story about mostly white gay men in America, but is always aware that men of color, bisexuals, lesbians, and trans people are part of this story, calling out the mainstream gay groups for actively excluding those people. He also maintains an awareness of regional differences and philosophical divisions, even while creating a national story.

The book was written in the 1990s, and Loughery's final reflections strongly reflect that, but I appreciate how strongly that position comes through rather than being buried or misleading and thus making the book less useful for modern readers. With that clarity, The Other Side of Silence remains vital basic reading for anyone interested in gay/queer history or how the American situation became what it is today.

[Mark]

Everything you always wanted to know about gay history in the 20th century but didn't know where to look! This book is excellent. It gives a great overview and is also tremendously specific. Best of all, it's eminentally readable, doesn't fall into the trap of being dry or opinionated.

[Edward Amato]

This is one of the most comprehensive and well written books about 20th century gay history up to the mid 1990s. Surprised it has such a low rating.

[HeavyReader]

I read this book for a queer US history class I audited at KU. It was satisfying to learn more about the oppression gay men faced in the early part of the 20th century and how they fought for recognition and acceptance at the end of that century.

[Jon Wilson]

If you followed my recent Pink Lemonade BLOG TOUR, you know I quoted this puppy extensively. It's just that good.

In other words, I loved this book. I got it from my library, so if a sibling reads this and wonders what to get me for Xmas, well, there it is.

[Fred Daly]

This is a staggering book, brilliant and exhaustively researched. (The author is a friend of mine, by the way.) In the last chapter, he writes that in the late 1990s "gay life would appear to be built around a series of paradoxes." That sentence could be the thesis of the entire book. Almost any assertion that anyone makes about the gay experience in any era has to be qualified or balanced by a different, often opposite, perspective. I read the book when it was first published, and reread it just now -- an exhilarating experience.

[R.J. Gilmour]

Loughery's survey of gay male history from WWII to the 1990s presents this little known part of queer history. It is a valuable resource for anyone curious about what life was like for gay men prior to Stonewall and helps displace Stonewall as the single, seminal event for a new chapter in gay identity.

[Sebastian Fortino]

An excellent, well-designed book about gay culture & history. Starting with the Navy & Military purges of the WWI, WWII, the Lavender Scare of the post-WWII eras, & leading up to Stonewall. I almost skipped tje Stonewall chapter: I’ve read so much about it. However, it’s a splendid part of the book that taught me more than I thought I knew.