Gay Rights Movement History, Ryan Field Books

 Gay Rights Movement History

Many people really don't know all that much about gay history. They don't even realize we have a culture and that we go back a long way. They simply think of us in terms of "sexuality" or "sexual orientation," and we are so much more than that. 

And it really worries me when gay men don't know anything about their own history. I see it all the time on social media. During Pride month I was amazed at how many knew nothing at all. 

With that said, I'm now linking to a piece that talks about some of the milestones in the gay rights movement. 

For example, in 1953 President Eisenhower signed executive order 10450 which banned 'homosexuals' from working for the federal government or private contractors. 

The Order lists homosexuals as security risks, along with alcoholics and neurotics.

Here's the rest. And this is just the beginning. Illinois was the first state to decriminalize 'homosexuality.' Sadly, there are still many countries in the world that do criminalize us. 

There are a few interesting photos, too. 

Amazon Link 

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Gay Men in Love in the 1850s, Ryan Field Books

 Gay Men in Love in the 1850s

Whenever I see a religious conservative on social media speaking as if all things gay just started to happen in the past few years, I school them as quickly as possible. I don't know if it will sink into their tiny brains, but I figure it can't hurt either. I also do this whenever I see a non-gay person writing a gay romance and pretending to know about gay culture and gay history. 

And that's what this article mentions: gay men who were in love in the 1850s, with photos to prove it really happened. 

There are more than 4,000 photos, taken between 1850 and 1950, of gay men showing signs of affection. And 400 of them are on display at a museum in Switzerland. 

They were collected over the years in flea markets and antiques shops by a couple, Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell. They are part of a book titled, Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love. In one photo two young men are holding a sign that says, "Not Married, but Willing to be." 

It's a wonderful article, a wonderful project, and you can read more about it, here. You can also see some of the photos. 

Amazon Link 

 Uncertainty on Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”



What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

The Wizard of Pride

 How to Be a Good Gay Bottom 

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What it Was Like to be Gay in the 80s, Ryan Field Books

 What it Was Like to be Gay in the 80s

Here is a little bit of history, gay history. I was too young to remember much about being gay in the 80s, but here's a piece where someone does remember. 

It's really about a book of images by Nicholas Blair titled, Castro to Christopher: Gay Streets of America 1979-1986. 

The article is written by a man named Jim Farber. And he makes some truly honest statements. 

I never heard or read the term “homophobia”. There’s a simple reason for that. Most people back then didn’t think there was anything the least bit wrong in treating gay people with revulsion.

Here's more. He's right about that. I heard many terms myself, as young as I was, and all were pejoratives like the word "Queer." 

Here is a link where you can find the book. I'm sue it's somewhere on Amazon, too. 

And it goes without saying the photos are fantastic. 

Amazon Link 

 Uncertainty on Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”



What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

The Wizard of Pride

 How to Be a Good Gay Bottom 

 Amazon

Robert Patrick an Early and Highly Prolific Playwright is Dead, Ryan Field Books

 Robert Patrick an Early and Highly Prolific Playwright is Dead

Patrick was well known for his wit, his passion, and his ability to write about gay and straight topics. I've talked about this before. We...gay men...know what it's like to be straight for a good part of our lives. Patrick's play, The Haunted Host, became what is referred to as a "touchstone" for early gay theater. 

You have to remember that prior to this, there was no gay theater and any gay topics were treated with the utmost discretion, and usually as adult content. Even the most G-rated. 

The play was inspired by a coffee shop in the West Village back in 1961, where other gay playwrights allegedly used to hang out. Of course the café and all gay venues back then were considered illegal. The play was not considered a huge hit until many years later when Harvey Fierstein discovered it. 

“All these years later,” Howard Kissel wrote in his review for The Daily News, “‘Host’ has taken on a certain poignancy. It predates the gay rights movement and AIDS. It radiates an innocence no longer attainable.”

Here's more. This is the kind of gay history and gay content they will never be able to talk about in schools in Florida. And that's sad. It's part of everyone's history, too. 

RIP Mr. Patrick. And thank you for your contributions. 

Amazon Link

Amazon Link 

 Uncertainty on Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”



What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

The Wizard of Pride

The Straight Pride Parade

 How to Be a Good Gay Bottom 

 Amazon

San Francisco's Gay Soft Ball League Celebrates 50 Years, Ryan Field Books

 San Francisco's Gay Soft Ball League Celebrates 50 Years

Ever since gay men have been caught up in the LGBTQ plus acronym we've had our own culture ignored and minimalized for the good of everyone else who allegedly falls under the "umbrella" of LGBTQ Plus. The problem is that we are not asexual and we can't identify with asexuals. We're not trans people and we can't identify with trans people. So it's nice to see a story that not only celebrates gay men, but also gay history. 

It's been 50 years since the Gay Softball League in SF started as a place for gay men to gather, to feel safe, and to learn more about themselves in a world that often shamed them. I'm sure when it first started 50 years ago the world was a very different place. I wouldn't have been writing this post back then. If I had been around back then I would have been living a very different gay life. But thanks to these gay men of this generation, we are all little more liberated and free to be authentic. 

I take things like this very seriously. One of the pitchers, Russ Smith, talks about what it was like in the 1980s when Reagan was ignoring gay men and AIDS.

“Most of the teams here were sponsored by a bar,” he recalled, “So you’d go to the losing team’s bar first and then everybody would go to the winning team’s bar and you bought each other rounds. So it was really a good social thing and the 80’s [otherwise] weren’t the most pleasant time.”

Here's more. I do remember when Gay men had to be creative in order to meet other gay men. Some found cruise spots and others met at bars or gay venues designed just for gay men. Back in the days when straight women didn't have baby showers and wedding showers in gay bars. 

And for those of you who don't believe we have our own history and culture, this article a just more proof. 

Amazon Link 

 Uncertainty on Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”



What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

The Wizard of Pride

The Straight Pride Parade

 How to Be a Good Gay Bottom 

 Amazon

A Piece About Why it Took Gay Rights So Long, Ryan Field Books

 A Piece About Why it Took Gay Rights So Long

This is an excellent piece that starts out with how a man named Henry Gerber was persecuted by the straights for starting what many believe is the first gay rights organization. That happened in 1925 and we have been fighting for our rights ever since. 

We are still fighting for quality today, but in different ways. The right wing red states want to silence us and send us back into the closet, and the left wing so-called allies continue to appropriate gay culture for monetary gain in films, TV shows, and books. We get it from all angles. Many of our so-called allies are so deeply rooted in straight white privilege, they don't even realize it when they are keeping us down. We don't need you to save us. We need you to support us. 

I once had a publisher, Ravenous Romance, tell me that I couldn't use the word "thug" in a book because she thought it was racist. And then I found out that she published a "gay romance" that was written by a straight white man. Both of them were seriously liberal, and both of them thought nothing of the cultural appropriation they did. However, the straight guy's book tanked, and Ravenous Romance eventually went out of business. And there was no need to wonder why. I'm just glad I had all my rights reverted to me. 

But I digress, the piece to which I'm linking continues to discuss the history of the gay rights movement in the US with some excellent examples. According to this piece, what is considered the beginning started with groups like Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis. I'm not all that familiar with either. They didn't teach us about that in high school or college.

It's a fascinating piece and you can read more about it here. The entire piece is mainly about Henry  Gerber and The Society for Human Rights that dates back to 1924. They mention a few more important names as well.  If you're like me, this is all fresh news that I didn't know existed. They also enforce the importance of this kind of gay history and equality, just so no one thinks all this started up just recently.

It has always been a long hard battle. 

A Different Kind of Southern Love Story

What readers are saying about “Uncertainty”

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“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no-nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”



What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”
In paperback or e-book. #gayromance #Wednesday

Altered Parts

The Wizard of Pride

The Straight Pride Parade

 How to Be a Good Gay Bottom