What do you think?
Rate this book
A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington D.C.
Rooted in extensive archival research and personal interviews, A Queer Capital is the first history of LGBT life in the nation’s capital. Revealing a vibrant past that dates back more than 125 years, the book explores how lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals established spaces of their own before and after World War II, survived some of the harshest anti-gay campaigns in the U.S., and organized to demand equal treatment. Telling the stories of black and white gay communities and individuals, Genny Beemyn shows how race, gender, and class shaped the construction of gay social worlds in a racially segregated city. From the turn of the twentieth century through the 1980s, Beemyn explores the experiences of gay people in Washington, showing how they created their own communities, fought for their rights, and, in the process, helped to change the country. Combining rich personal stories with keen historical analysis, A Queer Capital provides insights into LGBT life, the history of Washington, D.C., and African American life and culture in the twentieth century.
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
1 person is currently reading
97 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 24, 2016
As a queer living in DC, I really enjoyed this exploration of my city's queer history, especially the section about the Lesbian Furies collective.
February 25, 2025
What a wonderful book. Something so niche but critical. DC is not only Chocolate City, but if it were to be a state, also the queerest state in the US. Genny Beemyn shows us this is not a new development but rather because of the radical, racial, and transitional nature of the city that made it a hotbed for queerness.
Studying queer history is difficult obviously because of the invisible nature of its being and the contradictory or biased nature of research (“Achilles and Patroclus were just great friends”). But it’s not only the fact that historians have hid the fluidity of both fictional and real people, but it’s also the way queerness had to, and still does in part, hide itself in fear of retaliation. For example, in the post-reconstruction and rise of the Black Elite, black women (whose sexuality was already seen as excessive and deviant) and black men had to “put their best foot forward” to not let down the race. Black gays and bisexuals had to hide their love to maintain the front of an ideal minority that was being formed with DC’s extraordinary negroes. Those in intimate same-sex relationships had to construct social worlds that were largely invisible to the world and history. But in the instance of White Gay culture in DC, Beemyn also does an excellent job by not conflating white gayness as the norm. Rather by explaining that because of the history of segregation especially, White gayness was formed BECAUSE of the negation of blackness.
I do have some frustrations in the way the text highlights mostly legal ramifications or challenges of queerness. Again, Beemyn, hammers in the way race and class are essential for the development of gayness in the city. Yet, we hear more of the history of government employee protections than of the other cultural landmarks and people’s movements. The fact that the government is a massive employer is not lost on me, it’s still the case and critical to the cities development, but I wish Beemyn expanded beyond the mostly white, middle-class struggle. It does relate heavily now with Musk’s depraved destruction of the government with relation to the historical McCarran rider and the Pink Scare. But DC history will always be more than the federal government and a brief mention of the Furies.
Studying queer history is difficult obviously because of the invisible nature of its being and the contradictory or biased nature of research (“Achilles and Patroclus were just great friends”). But it’s not only the fact that historians have hid the fluidity of both fictional and real people, but it’s also the way queerness had to, and still does in part, hide itself in fear of retaliation. For example, in the post-reconstruction and rise of the Black Elite, black women (whose sexuality was already seen as excessive and deviant) and black men had to “put their best foot forward” to not let down the race. Black gays and bisexuals had to hide their love to maintain the front of an ideal minority that was being formed with DC’s extraordinary negroes. Those in intimate same-sex relationships had to construct social worlds that were largely invisible to the world and history. But in the instance of White Gay culture in DC, Beemyn also does an excellent job by not conflating white gayness as the norm. Rather by explaining that because of the history of segregation especially, White gayness was formed BECAUSE of the negation of blackness.
I do have some frustrations in the way the text highlights mostly legal ramifications or challenges of queerness. Again, Beemyn, hammers in the way race and class are essential for the development of gayness in the city. Yet, we hear more of the history of government employee protections than of the other cultural landmarks and people’s movements. The fact that the government is a massive employer is not lost on me, it’s still the case and critical to the cities development, but I wish Beemyn expanded beyond the mostly white, middle-class struggle. It does relate heavily now with Musk’s depraved destruction of the government with relation to the historical McCarran rider and the Pink Scare. But DC history will always be more than the federal government and a brief mention of the Furies.
September 7, 2024
Beemyn emphasizes that this is "a history" because of its partial, episodic, focus. Beemyn has many good insights about the dynamics of gender, class, and race in D.C., and by implication, elsewhere. There are fascinating portraits of both individuals and groups.
November 24, 2024
Solid overview of the history of queer life in DC covering cruising, the Lavender Scare, modern gay rights movements, and the intersections between class, race, and gender. I do find that Beemyn sometimes struggled to find the line between being too broad or too specific. Maybe I'm used to the Shilts style of LGBT history writing, but when Beemyn discussed broader topics like the McCarthy hearings, I found myself wanting to hear more from the perspectives of individuals who were directly affected by these firings. Likewise, when Beemyn zoomed into individuals like the Black academics and writers in Chapter 2, I wish she had made more direct and frequent connections between those individuals and how their experiences were shaped by the unique qualities of DC's queer community; it sometimes felt like I could be hearing those stories about individuals from any city. That said, I still found this book a great way to get acquainted with the key elements of the queer community in the capital.
3.5/5
3.5/5
January 19, 2024
There’s some great stuff in here! I am glad I read it and I specifically like it when an author isn’t afraid of showing the failures or parts of history that are a bit lackluster. It really puts the humanity into another timeframe.
The author makes a comment early on about there not being enough information available to focus or describe black queer life on DC. After reading more articles, papers, and books that predate the publishing of this book - I feel like it does a mediocre job in relation to black and queer identities in DC. For a city that was predominantly black for its history this is problematic. The book could do more in challenging dominant historical narratives about what it meant to be queer in DC.
The author makes a comment early on about there not being enough information available to focus or describe black queer life on DC. After reading more articles, papers, and books that predate the publishing of this book - I feel like it does a mediocre job in relation to black and queer identities in DC. For a city that was predominantly black for its history this is problematic. The book could do more in challenging dominant historical narratives about what it meant to be queer in DC.
March 22, 2019
Wonderful, well-researched book on the history of being gay in DC. The writing style is readable and enjoyable, which is always refreshing in academic books with this many citations! I especially appreciated how the author made sure to include how race affected gay Washingtonians, and drove home the point (once again) how often whiteness is ignored and assumed to be the default in gay histories. I hope more books in LGBTQ history learn this lesson from this book and make sure to not just look at how class or gender affects gay people, but race as well. I learned so much.
July 7, 2021
Very limited scope.
August 8, 2020
Very great historical read. Highly recommend.
February 3, 2015
2.5, really.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews