Title: Lonely Hunters - An Oral History of Lesbian and Gay Southern Life, 1948-1968 Author: James T. Sears Published by: Westview Press, 1997 ISBN: 0-8133-2474-2 [hardcover, 312 pages]
This is the story of Southern gays and lesbians in the 20-year span between the end of World War II and the stonewall riot that sparked widespread gay rights consciousness. Across the United States this was an era of courting and cocktail parties, Johnny Mathis and Jack Kerouac, with a Southern culture aptly depicted by Tennessee Williams -- genteel attitudes and behavior covering, in a thin veneer, baser passions just barely contained. But this veneer was developing cracks that would soon divide society in hotly contested battles over race, sexuality, and gender.
James Sears, noted gay writer, academic, and media commentator, has compiled the real stories of gay men and lesbians who were raised in the social hierarchy of the South and who recall their coming of age when the status quo of American society as a whole was on the cusp of great upheaval. Most notable, of course, was the battle being waged for the civil rights of blacks, but another, less visible battle was also taking place -- that of cultivating gay identities, peer groups. and a subculture no longer hidden by Southern convention.
Whether protecting their social stature by hiding their sexual identity of coming out of the closet to work for gay rights, it is the real lived experiences of participants in these pivotal social transitions that are collected here. These people and stories are the forebears of today's gay rights movement, and the message is clear -- gays and lesbians, and the rest of us, have come a very long way.
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