The Other Side of Silence; Men's Lives and Gay Identities: a Twentieth-Century History

by John Loughery

The writing of gay history has been a relatively recent invention. Starting with such books as Jonathan Ned Katz's Gay American History (1976), Arthur Evans's Witchcraft and the Gay Counter Culture (1978), and Lillian Faderman's Surpassing the Love of Men (1981), gay and lesbian historians have charted both the presence of gay men and women in the world as well as their influence upon it. John Loughery's The Other Side of Silence builds on this foundation to great effect. Books of gay history (dealing with enormous amounts of new material to interpret) have tended to discuss politics and culture as separate concepts, and the complicated interrelationships between the two have often been confusingly contradictory. Loughery has pieced together--using the work of such historians as Katz, Alan Berube, John D'Emilio, and George Chauncy--a highly readable survey of eight decades of gay male life that knits together the political and the cultural. He is thus able to explain, for instance, how the openly gay career of Tennessee Williams existed during the homophobia of the 1950s, or how the Supreme Court's 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick decision (maintaining that same-sex couples do not have a right to engage in consensual sex in private) could be made at a time when gay arts and culture were flourishing in America. Loughery is as mindful of the passage of anti-gay laws as he is of the plots of gay novels and developments in gay theater; as a result, he manages to assemble--with wit and intelligence--a complex and illuminating social history of gay male lives of this century. --Michael Bronski

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

507 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 1998

Reviews

[Michael Flick · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[H. Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[R.J. Gilmour · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.