A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington D.C.

281 Pages·2014·2.337 MB·English

by  Genny Beemyn

A QUEER CAPITAL
Rooted in extensive archival research and personal interviews, A Queer Capital is
the first history of LGBT life in the nation’s capital. Revealing a vibrant past that
dates back more than 125 years, the book explores how lesbians, gay men, and
bisexuals established spaces of their own before and after World War II, survived
some of the harshest anti-gay campaigns in the U.S., and organized to demand
equal treatment. Telling the stories of black and white gay communities and indi-
viduals, Genny Beemyn shows how race, gender, and class shaped the construction
of gay social worlds in a racially segregated city.
From the turn of the twentieth century through the 1980s, Beemyn explores
the experiences of gay people in Washington, showing how they created their
own communities, fought for their rights, and, in the process, helped to change the
country. Combining rich personal stories with keen historical analysis, A Queer
Capital provides insights into LGBT life, the history of Washington, D.C., and
African-American life and culture in the twentieth century.
Genny Beemyn is Director of The Stonewall Center at the University of Mas-
sachusetts, Amherst, and has published extensively in LGBTQ studies, including
The Lives of Transgender People.
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A QUEER CAPITAL
A History of Gay Life in
Washington, D.C.
Genny Beemyn
First published 2015
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
And by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
The right of Genny Beemyn to be identifi ed as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beemyn, Genny, 1966–
A queer capital : a history of gay life in Washington D.C. /
Genny Beemyn.
pages cm
1. Homosexuality—Washington (D.C.)—History. 2. Gay men—
Washington (D.C.)—History. 3. Lesbians—Washington (D.C.)—History.
4. Gays—Washington (D.C.)—Interviews. 5. Gays—Washington
(D.C.)—Social conditions. 6. Blacks—Race identity—United
States—History. 7. Whites—Race identity—United States—
History. 8. Gender identity—United States—History. I. Title.
HQ76.3.U52W182 2014
306.76′609753—dc23
2014000873
ISBN: 978-0-415-92172-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-73529-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-81927-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 The Geography of Same-Sex Desire: Cruising Men
in Washington in the Late Nineteenth and
Early Twentieth Centuries 14
2 “Sentiments Expressed Here Would Be Misconstrued
by Others”: The Same-Sex Sexual Lives of Washington’s
Black Elite in the Early Twentieth Century 47
3 Race, Class, Gender, and the Social Landscape of the
Capital’s Gay Communities During and After World War II 100
4 The Policing of Same-Sex Desire in Postwar Washington 129
5 LGBT Movements in the Capital in the Mid to Late
Twentieth Century: Three Historic Moments 181
6 Epilogue: “In Tyra’s Memory” 233
Appendix: List of Narrators 243
Bibliography 247
Index 261
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ILLUSTRATIONS
MAPS
1 Parks and bars in and near downtown Washington, D.C. that were
popular with gay people, 1945–60 103
FIGURES
1 Carter Bealer (“Jeb Alexander”) in October 1921 163
2 A page from Bealer’s 1920 diary 164
3 Lafayette Square in the early twentieth century 165
4 The Strand Theater in 1952 165
5 The Central Branch of the Washington YMCA 166
6 A resident’s room in the Black Branch of the Washington YMCA 166
7 Couple Mary Burrill and Lucy Diggs Slowe (seated) in 1932 167
8 Alain Locke, photographed by Glenn Carrington 167
9 Angelina Weld Grimké (right) with an unidentified white woman 168
10 Participants in the first gay rights demonstration to be held in
front of the Pentagon on July 31, 1965 168
11 Hillary Rodham Clinton speaking at the twentieth anniversary
of Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies in 2012 1 69
12 The Carroll Tavern 169
13 Members of the Furies in 1971 170
14 Members of Cinque performing at the Coffeehouse in 1983 171
15 Participants in the vigil for Tyra Hunter 171
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Like many activists who were strongly opposed to U.S. government policies in the
1980s and 1990s, my relationship with Washington, D.C. began through its role
as the site of the federal government. I participated in the 1985 March for Peace,
Jobs, and Justice (and was arrested in a civil disobedience action), the 1987 March
on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, and the 1989 March for Women’s
Lives. Being newly out and surrounded by hundreds of thousands of other les-
bian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people made the 1987 march one of
the most transformative events in my life and led me to want to volunteer for the
1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation.
I spent three months in D.C. in 1993 working on the bisexual events that were
held in conjunction with the march and, in the process, became familiar with the
city and its vibrant LGBT communities. It was then that I decided to write my
dissertation on the history of LGBT life in the capital, which I completed in 1997.
That research serves as the basis for this book.
Beyond those three months, I have never lived in D.C., and for much of the
time that I was conducting research for my dissertation in African-American stud-
ies and then for this book, I lived nearly a thousand miles away. But I was very
fortunate to have tremendous local support, without which I could never have
accomplished this project. In particular, I am indebted to Loraine Hutchins for
giving me a home away from home whenever I was in D.C. and for helping con-
nect me to the city’s LGBT communities. The people I interviewed were also very
generous in giving me their time, getting me in touch with other potential narra-
tors, and offering me their encouragement and friendship. I am especially thankful
for the kindness of Joan Biren, John Davis, Larry Duckette, Jack Frey and Peter
Morris, Gideon Ferebee, ABilly Jones-Hennin, Dusty Keyes, Jack Nichols, Gladys
Paige, Michelle Parkerson, Cheryl Spector, Thurlow Tibbs, “M. Tilden-Morgan,”