Gay Roots: 20 Years of Gay Sunshine : An Anthology of Gay History, Sex, Politics, and Culture

by Winston Leyland (Editor), Jack Fritscher, John Rechy

Book by Taylor, Clark, Mitzel, John

Genres: History, Nonfiction, LGBT, Gay

703 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1991

Reviews

[Anthony McGill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a colossus of a book, an anthology of the best writing from Winston Leyland's much loved (and sadly missed) Gay Sunshine Journal - "the groundbreaking tabloid that served as a forum and catalyst for the (gay) revolution underway."

To those who thought gay life in the 70s and 80s was shallow and just an excuse for excessive sex, drugs and wild partying, you only need to glance into this mammoth volume to uncover the rich diversity of literary output by gay writers that Leyland published in his wonderful journal.

Basically five books in one:
1 - Gay History (articles on Arab Civilization and Male Love/ Akhenaten of Egypt, 1379-1362 B.C./ Russia's Gay Literature & History from the 11th. Century to the 20th./ Gay London in the 1720s/ Indian Homosexuality/ Abe Lincoln & Walt Whitman/ Seven Poems by Whitman/ Homosexuality in 1920s Harlem/ The German Youth Movement/ Homosexuals in the Anti-Nazi Underground/ Mexican Gaylife in Historical Perspective.

2 - Gay Sex and Politics (more than 20 articles including writings by John Rechy, Perry Brass, Winston Leyland, Christopher Lonc, Jack Latham, Richard Nash, Boyd McDonald, many others, encompassing various aspects of gay sex and gay identity, some quite explicit.)

3 - Gay Biography and Literary Essays (items by Ned Rorem, Robin Maugham, Tennessee Williams. Winston Leyland, Malcolm Boyd, others; interviews with Gore Vidal, Jean Genet, Allen Ginsberg, Christopher Isherwood, etc.; subjects include The Cinema of Camp, Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Censor, Bloomsbury - a gay perspective, John Horne Burns - a forgotten faggot, The Gay Mishima, Latin America - Myths and Realities, Brazilian story 'Orgy' by Tulio Carella.

4 - Gay Fiction (works by Girard Kent, Paul Verlaine, Jack Fritscher, Joseph Torchia, Lars Eighner and Brazilian writers Caio Fernando Abreu and Darcy Penteado.)

5 - Gay Poetry (huge selection featuring the artistry of Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Edward A. Lacey, John Selby, W.H. Auden, Dennis Kelly, Jim Everhard, a score of others including special selections of Russian, Brazilian and 'Eight Boston Poets.'

This book is a treasure trove of gay male history and literature; one no serious collector of gay lore should be without. " ...... is intended for every gay person desiring to reclaim a rich cultural tradition."
Over 100 writers and artists are represented. Book comes with a selection of photos, drawings and cartoons. 703 pages.

N.B. REGRETTABLY NO LESBIAN SUBJECTS ARE INCLUDED.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The parts I loved I really loved, the parts I disliked I really disliked. Obviously as an anthology the quality varies with all the different authors, but that wasn't really my issue. I really enjoyed the nonfiction sections: the gay politics and the gay history sections were vibrant and had so much to say that was new and exciting to me, even if it was from the 1970s and 80s. But the fiction and poetry sections didn't come off as well to me. Several of the stories and poems suffered from exoticization of other cultures and sex partners, particularly Latin America. Lots of "romancing the savage" type of stuff, with very colonial, white superior mindsets. The poetry I liked the least because a solid chunk of it was about teenage boys and adult men. This is a standard of morality that has changed a lot even in the past five years, but finally as a culture we're started to recognize that relationships between adults and teenagers are fundamentally predatory and harmful, and they're celebrated and romanticized in this book.