At the turn of the twentieth century, two distinct, yet at times overlapping, male same-sex sexual subcultures had emerged in the Pacific Northwest: one among the men and boys who toiled in the region's logging, fishing, mining, farming, and railroad-building industries; the other among the young urban white-collar workers of the emerging corporate order. Boag draws on police logs, court records, and newspaper accounts to create a vivid picture of the lives of these men and youths—their sexual practices, cultural networks, cross-class relations, variations in rural and urban experiences, and ethnic and racial influences.
Same-Sex Affairs Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest
About the Book
Reviews
“This superb book draws on several disciplines, from local history to gender studies, as well as the theories of Michel Foucault...Essential.”—S. L. Recken Choice: Current Reviews For Academic Libraries
“A valuable contribution to history’s bookshelves.”—Jim Marks Gay & Lesbian Review/Worldwide
“The best local and regional studies of U.S., same-sex sexuality, communities, and movements are those . . . that both use a narrower-than-national focus to probe deeply and provide rich detail and also revise our understanding of the big picture. . . Peter Boag's Same-Sex Affairs succeeds on both of these grounds by filling in the canvas of life in the Pacific Northwest . . .”—Leila J. Rupp, PhD Journal Of Homosexuality
“This well-written book blends a straightforward history of the criminal cases involved with analytical considerations tied to the general history of homosexuality...a region rich in queer stories.”—Gary Atkins Lambda Book Report
“Boag’s addition to this literature (quite apart from his contribution to the history of sexuality) provides a whole new angle. That this local is also significant on a much grander scale makes ‘Same-Sex Affairs’ an important new contribution to the history of sexuality.”—Christopher Dummitt Left History
"The product of rigorous research and thinking, Same-Sex Affairs assesses the shifting meanings of homosexuality for different classes of gay men, and for "mainstream" society, between 1890 and 1930. While establishing that the Northwest provided a distinctive context for constructions of male, same-sex sex, Boag also uses evidence from the region to refine understandings of the practice and significance of homosexuality at the national level. Same-Sex Affairs makes important contributions to the history of both the western United States and modern American sexuality."—John Findlay, author of Magic Lands
"This is an important work, taking Western history in entirely new directions. Peter Boag demonstrates his judiciousness, his care, with an impressive set of largely overlooked and underutilized sources. And those sources reveal remarkable tales. There is verve, an excitement, in both the ordinariness of everyday life and the extraordinary circumstances of scandal. Historians of sexuality in particular will ponder this book's insights for some time to come. It is a provocative study, rich in documentation, and extremely significant in terms of analytic impact."—John Howard, author of Men Like That: A Southern Queer History
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"This is an important work, taking Western history in entirely new directions. Peter Boag demonstrates his judiciousness, his care, with an impressive set of largely overlooked and underutilized sources. And those sources reveal remarkable tales. There is verve, an excitement, in both the ordinariness of everyday life and the extraordinary circumstances of scandal. Historians of sexuality in particular will ponder this book's insights for some time to come. It is a provocative study, rich in documentation, and extremely significant in terms of analytic impact."—John Howard, author of Men Like That: A Southern Queer History
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART I: WORKING-CLASS SAME-SEX AFFAIRS
1. Sex on the Road: Migratory Men and Youths in the Pacific Northwest’s Hinterlands
2. Sex in the City: Transient and Working-Class Men and Youths in the Urban Northwest
PART II: MIDDLE-CLASS SAME-SEX AFFAIRS
3. Gay Identity and Community in Early Portland
4. From Oscar Wilde to Portland’s 1912 Scandal: Socially Constructing the Homosexual
PART III: PROGRESSIVISM AND SAME-SEX AFFAIRS
5. Personality, Politics, and Sex in Portland and the Northwest
6. Reforming Homosexuality in the Northwest
Epilogue. Same-Sex Affairs in the Pacific Northwest: 1912 and After
Notes
Bibliography
Index