SEMINAR DESCRIPTION

This course will surface the ways in which LGBTQ+ people and communities have impacted the ways in which mainstream American culture has been shaped by cultural production derived from thinking that challenges heteronormativity in post-World War II America until the validation of same sex marriage in 2014 Through the lenses of queer theory, evolving queer history, Since the emergence of “homosexuality” and “transsexuality” as identities in the late 19th century, queer culture has been presumed to develop in the margins of American life, ancillary to and shaped by heterosexual norms. Yet, the vast majority of queer people in the last hundred years have lived (to at least some degree) in the closet, allowing them to exist in the mainstream while maintaining a distinctly non-normative identity. Thus, to quote bell hooks, allowing them "to bring the margin into the center." In 15 meetings over the course of the semester, through lectures, discussions, texts, slides, films and video, we will explore the ways in which transformative integration of queer designs for living have occurred. Highlighting pivotal events and shifts in American cultural, political, and creative history this course will provide food for thought about the ways in queerness is integral to American notions of progress and freedom.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Research Item 3; Olivia M

New York Public Library Article 

How Activists Harnessed the Telephone and Built the Nation’s First LGBTQ+ Hotline

Link: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2022/04/28/gay-switchboard-first-lgbtq-hotline 











The calls fielded by the Gay Switchboard are recorded in thousands of pages of call logs housed in the Gay Switchboard of New York records of the Manuscripts and Archives Division at The New York Public Library. These logs capture the day-to-day fears, joys, pleasures, and questions that prompted callers to reach out to the Gay Switchboard as well as the reactions and thoughts of the volunteers on the other end. 

The calls received on March 3, 1972 provide a clear snapshot of the wide range of requests that volunteers dealt with over the course of a regular shift. Scrawled in spiral-bound notebooks, these records include notes such as: “2:00 A mother called because she was worried about her 22 year old son who seemed to be effeminate. Rapped with her for a while. The son might call us.” “4:35 ♀ called for number of women’s center.” “8:10 lonely older man called to ask where to meet people and talk.” And, “8:20 ♂ info on baths in Philadelphia.”


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Erika Bauer - Final Project

 Link to my final project https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10M3X31MtgSnCAicMzf6pDhINFAjSNRaGX8BJnh3_9Eg/edit