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In the early 1920s one doctor interviewed a group of working-class gender non-conforming people at a NYC jail who claimed that they were “proud to be degenerates and did not care to be cured!” (6). There’s a pervasive misconception that all gay people were closeted and self-hating prior to Stonewall (1969). Called "monumental" ( Washington Post), "unassailable" ( Boston Globe), "brilliant" ( The Nation), and "a first-rate book of history" ( The New York Times), Gay New Yorkforever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond.more Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating.
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Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey construct The award-winning, field-defining history of gay life in New York City in the early to mid-20th century The award-winning, field-defining history of gay life in New York City in the early to mid-20th century Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating.