Queer Public History: Essays on Scholarly Activism

355 Pages·2022·11.468 MB·English

by  Marc Stein

Queer Public History

Queer Public History
Essays on Scholarly Activism
Marc Stein
University of California Press
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2022 by Marc Stein
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Stein, Marc, author.
Title: Queer public history : essays on scholarly activism /
Marc Stein.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press,
[2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2021046159 (print) | lccn 2021046160
(ebook) | ISBN 9780520304307 (cloth) | isbn 9780520304314
(paperback) | isbn 9780520973039 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Gays—United States—History—20th century. |
Gays—United States—History—21st century. | Public
history—United States.
Classification: lcc hq76.3.u6 s74 2022 (print) | lcc hq76.3.u6
(ebook) | ddc 306.76/609730904—dc23/eng/20211021
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021046159
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021046160
Manufactured in the United States of America
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction 1
Part One. Queer Memories of the 1980s 25
1. Jonathan Ned Katz Murdered Me: History and Suicide 31
2. Memories of the 1987 March on Washington 37
Part Two. Discipline, Punish, and Protest 43
3. Committee on Lesbian and Gay History Survey
on LGBTQ History Careers 53
4. Crossing Borders: Memories, Dreams, Fantasies,
and Nightmares of the History Job Market 58
5. Post- Tenure Lavender Blues 79
6. Political History and the History of Sexuality 89
Part Three. Histories of Queer Activism 93
7. Coming Out and Going Public: A History of Lesbians
and Gay Men Taking to Queer Street, Philadelphia, USA 101
8. Approaching Stonewall from the City of Sisterly
and Brotherly Loves 108
9. Recalling Dewey’s Sit- In 116
10. Fifty Years of LGBT Movement Activism
in Philadelphia 121
11. Heterosexuality in America: Fifty Years and Counting 125
Part Four. Queer Historical Interventions 129
12. Monica, Bill, History, and Sex 137
13. In My Wildest Dreams: Advice for George Bush 146
14. In My Wildest Dreams: The Marriage That Dare
Not Speak Its Name 149
15. From the Glorious Strike to Obama’s New
Executive Order 152
16. “In My Mind I’m (Not) Going to Carolina” 155
Part Five. Queer Immigration 159
17. Alienated Affections: Remembering Clive Michael
Boutilier (1933–2003) 167
18. The Supreme Court’s Sexual Counter- Revolution 171
19. Immigration Is a Queer Issue: From Fleuti to Trump 181
20. Defectives of the World, Unite! 185
Part Six. Sex, Law, and the Supreme Court 189
21. Queer Eye for the FBI 195
22. Gay Rights and the Supreme Court: The Early Years 201
23. Justice Kennedy and the Future of Same-S ex Marriage 207
24. Five Myths about Roe v. Wade 211
25. Refreshing Abominations: An Open Letter
to Anthony Kennedy 218
Part Seven. Exhibiting Queer History 221
26. Introduction to the Philadelphia LGBT History Project 229
27. U.S. Homophile Internationalism: Archive and Exhibit 236
28. “Black Lesbian in White America”:
Interviewing Anita Cornwell 242
Part Eight. Stonewall, Popularity,
and Publicity 255
29. Toward a Theory of the Stonewall Revolution 263
30. Queer Rage: Police Violence and the Stonewall
Rebellion of 1969 269
31. A Documentary History of Stonewall: An Interview
with Marc Stein 272
32. Stonewall and Queens 279
33. Recalling Purple Hands Protests of 1969 283
Conclusion 287
Acknowledgments 299
Notes 301
Index 331

Illustrations
Figures
1. Marc Stein at Boston Lesbian and Gay Pride, 1989 / 18
2. Kiyoshi Kuromiya plaque in San Francisco, 2021 / 105
3. Annual Reminder historical marker in Philadelphia, 2005 / 111
4. Dewey’s sit-in historical marker in Philadelphia, 2018 / 120
5. GLBT Historical Society Museum in San Francisco, 2010 / 126
6. Clive Boutilier and family in New York City, early 1960s / 168
7. Anita Cornwell in Philadelphia, 1986 / 244
8. Stonewall National Monument in New York City, 2019 / 257
9. “Speaking Out for Equality” exhibit at Liberty Bell Center
in Philadelphia, 2015 / 289
Tables
1. Current Positions by Rank, Sector, and Sex / 54
2. First and Final Years in Graduate School / 55
3. Current Positions by Primary Discipline/Department / 57
ix