Title The Meaning of Gay : Interaction, Publicity, and Community among Homosexual Men in 1960s San Francisco

Published Lexington Books 2012

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Description 1 online resource (354 pages) Contents Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication Page; Table of Contents; San Francisco Gay Organizations, 1961-1 972; San Francisco Gay Publications, 1961-1 972; Preface; Introduction: Homosexuality and Meaning; 1: The Origins and Values of a Gay Male Public; 2: Sickness and Sin: Gay Men Confront Symbolic Domination; 3: Conflict over the Ends and Means of Gay Counter-Publicity; 4: The Struggle for a Gay Community; 5: The Meaning of Gay Sex: Intimacy, Love, and Friendship; 6: Gay Masculinities; 7: The Meaning of Gay -- Conclusion: Meaning, Desire, and the Future of Gay Appendix: San Francisco and the United States as Environment, 1961-1972Bibliography; Index; About the Author Summary Homosexual men in San Francisco had started the 1960s interacting mostly in private, informal groups, meeting in bars and house parties. But by 1972, the city had a 'gay community' and 'gay pride, ' all celebrated with a parade. Through numerous organizations and publications, gay men created a counter-publicity to fight against their domination and subordination, and had begun to try to build a community that would foster deeper, more meaningful relationships with each other. The emergent counter-publicity and community in turn created the social spaces necessary for gay men to create an expanding range of possible meanings for their 'gayness, ' meanings that aligned more closely with their experiences and which better helped them meet their needs and desires. The gayness they created could expand and contract depending on the needs and circumstances of the individual or group. Rather than the typical story of the evolution from 'conservative' to 'radical' social movement, The Meaning of Gay sees the development of gay politics as the shift from the need to establish a public-facing gayness in the early 1960s, to the community building efforts that began in the mid-1960s, through the efforts to create a gayness based in authenticity, brotherhood, and revolution in the early 1970s. Each of these developments flowed from gay men's responses to the swiftly changing San Francisco and American environment. The dramatic explosion of possibilities for gayness that emerged during the 1960s may serve as a touchstone for those concerned with the problems of gay male life in the twenty-first century. This book traces these developments as they was recorded in the gay periodicals of the era, and analyzes them from the perspective of John Dewey's theory of mind, desire, public, valuation, and democratic community Subject Gay community -- California -- San Francisco -- History -- 20th century Gay culture -- California -- San Francisco -- History -- 20th century Gay men -- California -- San Francisco -- Social conditions -- 20th century Gay men -- California -- San Francisco -- Social life and customs -- 20th century Gay community Gay culture Gay men -- Social conditions Gay men -- Social life and customs Manners and customs SUBJECT San Francisco (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century Subject California -- San Francisco Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 128359935X 9781283599351 9780739144718 0739144715

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