Synopses & Reviews
Harry Hay is widely recognized as the pioneer of the gay liberation movement. In
Free Comrades,
Hay's contributions are predated by fifty years.
By investigating journals, books, and public records between 1895 and 1917, Terence Kissack adds a new foundation to the history of homosexuality in the United States. The anarchist position on individual freedoms was used to defend same-sex partnerships and break down taboos within their own milieu, while bringing the challenge to the rest of society. At the time, the public's entrenched social conservatism instituted a complete blackout of the topic. It was in Will Durant and Emma Goldman's lectures, and in papers such as Benjamin Tucker's Liberty and Leonard Abbott's The Free Comrade, that the personal unquestionably became the political.
The trial and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde, the lively discourse over Walt Whitman's perceived homosexual themes, and the blatant inclusion of homosexual relations in Alexander Berkman's Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, acted as springboards for broadening this lively debate.
By defending the right to enter into same-sex partnerships, free from social and governmental constraints, the anarchists of their time posed a challenge to society still not met today. Read Free Comrades for a refreshing outlook on a lost social history.
Terence Kissackis the executive director of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. He earned his PhD at CUNY, and his writings have appeared in Radical History Review and Journal of the History of Sexuality.
Synopsis
Cultural Writing. Gay Studies. By investigating journals, books, and public records between 1895 and 1917, Terence Kissack adds a new foundation to the history of homosexuality in the United States. The anarchist position on individual freedoms was used to defend same-sex partnerships and break down taboos within their own milieu, while bringing the challenge to the rest of society. At the time, the public's entrenched social conservatism instituted a complete blackout of the topic. It was in Will Durant and Emma Goldman's lectures, and in papers such as Benjamin Tucker's Liberty and Leonard Abbott's The Free Comrade, that the personal unquestionably became the political.
Synopsis
The political origins of gay liberation in the United States.
Synopsis
By investigating public records, journals, and books published between 1895 and 1917, Terence Kissack expands the scope of the history of LGBT politics in the United States. The anarchists Kissack examines—such as Emma Goldman, Benjamin Tucker, and Alexander Berkman—defended the right of individuals to pursue same-sex relations, challenging both the sometimes conservative beliefs of their fellow anarchists as well as those outside the movement—police, clergy, and medical authorities—who condemned LGBT people.
In his book, Kissack examines the trial and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde, the life and work of Walt Whitman, periodicals such as Tucker's Liberty and Leonard Abbott's The Free Comrade, and the frank treatment of homosexual relations in Berkman's Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, By defending the right to enter into same sex partnerships, free from social and governmental restraints, the anarchists posed a challenge to society still not met today.
Terence Kissack is a former Executive Director of San Francisco’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society; he currently serves on the board of the Society. His writings have appeared in Radical History Review and Journal of the History of Sexuality.
About the Author
Terence Kissack is the Executive Director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. His published work, which has appeared in the Radical History Review and The Journal of the History of Sexuality, examines the intersection of the politics of the left and the politics of homosexuality. He earned his PhD in history at the City Univerity of New York.