knowhomo: LGBTQ* History Through Photographs and Voice June 28, 1970, a year after the Stonewall Riots, a few hundred people gather on Christopher Street and start marching towards Central Park (Sheep Meadow) “At last we came to the Sheep Meadow, our feet hot and tired. I got to the crest of a small knoll before I turned around. There behind us, in a river that seemed endless, poured wave after wave of happy faces. The Gay Nation was coming out into the light! There was hardly a dry eye on the hill. What had begun as a few hardy hundred had swollen all along its route, until we filled half the huge meadow with the networks and newspapers estimated as five to fifteen thousand people, all gay and proud of it!” — Arnie Kantrowitz (McGarry, Molly, and Fred Wasserman. “There’s a Riot Going On.” Becoming Visible: An Illustrated History of Lesbian and Gay Life in Twentieth-century America. New York: Penguin Studio, 1998. 16-17. )

knowhomo:

LGBTQ* History Through Photographs and Voice

June 28, 1970, a year after the Stonewall Riots, a few hundred people gather on Christopher Street and start marching towards Central Park (Sheep Meadow)

“At last we came to the Sheep Meadow, our feet hot and tired. I got to the crest of a small knoll before I turned around. There behind us, in a river that seemed endless, poured wave after wave of happy faces. The Gay Nation was coming out into the light! There was hardly a dry eye on the hill. What had begun as a few hardy hundred had swollen all along its route, until we filled half the huge meadow with the networks and newspapers estimated as five to fifteen thousand people, all gay and proud of it!” — Arnie Kantrowitz

(McGarry, Molly, and Fred Wasserman. “There’s a Riot Going On.” Becoming Visible: An Illustrated History of Lesbian and Gay Life in Twentieth-century America. New York: Penguin Studio, 1998. 16-17. )


(via vegetable)

1 day ago
theladyisagent: And this is where we used to be, not that long ago. Existing can get you in some real serious trouble, kid… This photo reminds me of the amazing queer history book “Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold” and how the butches and the drag queens in the 30s and 40s would get tipped off that the bar was being raided, and they needed to switch clothes as fast as possible, because otherwise you got hell, you could get jail time, or worse. Via RetroNaut From Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective’s Scrapbook by Sean Tejaratchi

theladyisagent:

And this is where we used to be, not that long ago. Existing can get you in some real serious trouble, kid…

This photo reminds me of the amazing queer history book “Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold” and how the butches and the drag queens in the 30s and 40s would get tipped off that the bar was being raided, and they needed to switch clothes as fast as possible, because otherwise you got hell, you could get jail time, or worse.

Via RetroNaut

From Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective’s Scrapbook by Sean Tejaratchi

1 week ago
mizenscen: Queen Christina, 1933.  Dir.  Rouben Mamoulian.

mizenscen:

Queen Christina, 1933.  Dir.  Rouben Mamoulian.

1 week ago

(via mizenscen)

2 weeks ago
mizenscen: Smouldering Fires, 1925.  Dir.  Clarence Brown. 

mizenscen:

Smouldering Fires, 1925.  Dir.  Clarence Brown. 

(via planeta-venus)

3 weeks ago

(Source: epilepsyblues)

3 weeks ago
butch-in-progress: It isn’t in the Water, it’s in the Seed [K] Let me introduce you to A Florida Enchantment - a film produced in 1914 which isn’t only one of the earliest depictions of homosexuality on the silver screen, but also the earliest one to settle the question about the origin of homosexuality once and for all… unfortunately, no one remembers. And no, it’s not music videos. Here’s how it works: The film’s protagonist pops a magical seed which causes some gender confusion, a.k.a her transformation into a glorious butch, as she starts dancing with and hitting on girls, donning a suit and being all around better at being ‘male’ than all those guys around her, which makes her fiancee decide to also try the seed on himself. Mayhem (and entertainment) ensues. You can watch the 3.30 minute condensation of the film here, or purchase the whole thing here. Wonderful!

butch-in-progress:

It isn’t in the Water, it’s in the Seed

[K] Let me introduce you to A Florida Enchantment - a film produced in 1914 which isn’t only one of the earliest depictions of homosexuality on the silver screen, but also the earliest one to settle the question about the origin of homosexuality once and for all… unfortunately, no one remembers. And no, it’s not music videos. Here’s how it works:

The film’s protagonist pops a magical seed which causes some gender confusion, a.k.a her transformation into a glorious butch, as she starts dancing with and hitting on girls, donning a suit and being all around better at being ‘male’ than all those guys around her, which makes her fiancee decide to also try the seed on himself.

Mayhem (and entertainment) ensues.

You can watch the 3.30 minute condensation of the film here, or purchase the whole thing here.

Wonderful!

1 month ago

butch-in-progress:

Marlene Dietrich’s “verging from the norm” affair with fellow screen siren Kay Francis

[K] Almost-too-good-too-be-true excerpt from the FBI-files on Marlene Dietrich (whom J. Edgar Hoover suspected to be a German/European spy.)

With reference to her personal history, Source [blackened] continued that “despite her marriage to SIEBER, with whom she has not lived for many years, at least as long as has been to the United States, DIETRICH has been promiscuous in a bland, glamorous way. … During her Paramount days, she verged from the norm for an affair with KAY FRANCIS (known lesbian), and since that time has been involved in similar experiences, although less known. [blackened]’s wife, also known lesbian) reportedly once was given a large sapphire ring  by DIETRICH in a night club in the Strip.

Lesbian gossip from Hollywood’s Golden age (with government-approval.)… still good (and better/hotter than today’s) after more than 60-years.

1 month ago
butch-in-progress: Kay Francis [B+K] Kay Francis - as we learned today … a known lesbian - wrote in her diary:

butch-in-progress:

Kay Francis

[B+K] Kay Francis - as we learned today … a known lesbian - wrote in her diary:

1 month ago

butch-in-progress:

Treasures from Mercedes de Acosta’s Bequest - Portraits

[K] If you’re following this blog, you are already away of the many reasons Mercedes de Acosta is worth remembering/the many ladies laid which earned her a bright spot in lesbian herstory.

If not, a quick reminder by celebrity photographer (and friend of Greta Garbo) Cecil Beaton:

“She was one of the most rebellious & brazen of Lesbians”.

(Another gay male fan would be Truman Capote, who assumed her to be the joker in his “International Daisy Chain” card game - think “6 degrees of separation”.)

Still, so far, we haven’t had the photographic evidence to proof her awesomeness and swagger. This is about to change, as it finally occurred to me to have a look the the Rosenbach Museum and Library’s online collection, to which Mercedes de Acosta had sold all her pictures and letters in 1960 (Good things come to those who wait… until it finally dawns on them.). Among them the much-hyped letters from Greta Garbo, which the museum was by de Acosta’s request not allowed to publish until 10 years after Garbo’s death. (Even though they weren’t by far as racy as some had hoped them to be.)

Focusing not on Garbo for a change, we proudly present portraits of one of my favorite vintage butches of all time, Mercedes de Acosta herself, as well as some of her celebrity friends such as Alfred Stieglitz and Getrude Stein.

All pictures courtesy of the Rosenbach Museum and Libary.

1 month ago