Same-Sex Affairs, Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest

by Peter Boag

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.

Genres: LGBT, History, American History, Nonfiction, Queer

Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Peter Boag holds the Columbia Chair in the History of the American West at Washington State University. He is the author of Environment and Experience: Settlement Culture in Nineteenth-Century Oregon and Same Sex Affairs: Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest, both from UC Press.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I've read on the history of male homosexuality in the US since George Chauncey's Gay New York. Boag uncovered a wealth of documentary evidence and used it not only to craft an intensely local history but to show how the local events were informed by national trends and events and also how they had repercussions beyond Portland. Boag is an excellent writer, and I actually found myself quite moved by some of the stories of the men who found themselves caught up in the repressive social and moral politics of the early 20th century.

[Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd already read Gay New York and found this coincidentally in a bookstore, unaware that it would come to add a ton more dimensions to things I'd already learned. Not only would I highly recommend this for anyone interested in gay history but I honestly think that this and Gay New York should be required reading. Like if you're not interested in gay history, this will GET you interested.