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Invisible queers
So I'm watching the HBO series Gentleman Jack, which, if you don't already know, is a historical fiction based on the autobiographical diaries of Ann Lister, a landed gentry lesbian of the, erm, I think Victorian era.
I am watching how the show handles who knows, and how they talk about it, and what they think, and how they act. Because this is, after all, based on the VOLUMINOUS diaries of Lister herself. My god, the woman wrote down EVERYTHING. So this is, largely, in her own words. Ish. More or less.
But I am put in mind of the constantly increasing body of knowledge we have about the queers of the past. (That forthcoming Emily Dickinson movie, for instance? Based on Dickinson's letters?) We've ALWAYS been here. And we haven't been invisible. People have ALWAYS known. People have always had to make some sort of peace, or war, or accommodation, for queerness.
That history -- of our existence, acceptance, and daily lives -- keeps getting lost.
"Lost."
Dickinson's biographer destroyed every piece of evidence she could find of Dickinson's queerness, creating the quiet, mousey, Emily of popular imaginings.
"Lost."
In my own life I can see the erasure of the queers of the 70s and 80s, worlds of vibrant culture and of quiet family existence all streamlined into a single narrative. "Gays partied, then AIDS killed them all." And while that narrative is true for SOME aspects of queer life and culture, it's by no means complete.
Every generation has to remake the terms of our existence in the dominant paradigm, and it's fucking exhausting.
I am watching how the show handles who knows, and how they talk about it, and what they think, and how they act. Because this is, after all, based on the VOLUMINOUS diaries of Lister herself. My god, the woman wrote down EVERYTHING. So this is, largely, in her own words. Ish. More or less.
But I am put in mind of the constantly increasing body of knowledge we have about the queers of the past. (That forthcoming Emily Dickinson movie, for instance? Based on Dickinson's letters?) We've ALWAYS been here. And we haven't been invisible. People have ALWAYS known. People have always had to make some sort of peace, or war, or accommodation, for queerness.
That history -- of our existence, acceptance, and daily lives -- keeps getting lost.
"Lost."
Dickinson's biographer destroyed every piece of evidence she could find of Dickinson's queerness, creating the quiet, mousey, Emily of popular imaginings.
"Lost."
In my own life I can see the erasure of the queers of the 70s and 80s, worlds of vibrant culture and of quiet family existence all streamlined into a single narrative. "Gays partied, then AIDS killed them all." And while that narrative is true for SOME aspects of queer life and culture, it's by no means complete.
Every generation has to remake the terms of our existence in the dominant paradigm, and it's fucking exhausting.
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I spent some time last year looking at old issues of The Advocate from the 70's on microfilm, just for fun. It's wonderful how full and nuanced queer history looks on the pages of a newspaper; you get the politics, letter columns, entertainment reviews, travel guides, advertisements and classifieds all next to each other. I took lots of screencaps, and I've posted a few to tumblr, but I haven't figured out yet what to do with them, other than request the next reel of microfilm and read more.
It's also why I've been tracking down 70's TV episodes with queer characters, although the depictions have been very hit-or-miss.
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Huh, I expect the older Advocate issues are FASCINATING.
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It is fascinating! One of my favorite bits of trivia which I learned from a very early issue of The Advocate is that there was a computer-matched gay dating service as early as 1969! I certainly wouldn't have guessed it, had I not seen the ad!
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