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Sorcellerie et contre-culture gay
Dans cet essai initialement publié en 1978, l'auteur propose une relecture de l'histoire occidentale à partir du point de vue gay. En s'attachant à celles et ceux qui sont rejetés aux marges, il retrace l'émergence d'une société patriarcale, urbaine et répressive, face à une contre-culture qui maintient des pratiques religieuses, sociales et sexuelles hérétiques, païennes, proches de la nature.
- GenresNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
Published October 3, 2025
About the author
Arthur Scott Evans
78 booksArthur Scott Evans (October 12, 1942 – September 11, 2011) was an early gay rights advocate and author, best known for his 1978 book Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture [es].[1][2] Politically active in New York City in the 1960s and early 1970s, he and his partner began a homestead in Washington state in 1972,[2] then later moved to San Francisco where he became a fixture in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. In his later years, Evans remained politically active and continued as a translator and academic.[3] His 1997 book Critique of Patriarchal Reason argued that misogyny had influenced "objective" fields such as logic and physics.[2][4]
Early life and education
Evans was born on October 12, 1942[5] in York, Pennsylvania. His father was a factory worker, while his mother ran a beauty shop in the front of their family home.[2] Evans graduated from public high school in 1960,[3] afterwards receiving a four-year scholarship from the Glatfelter Paper Company in York to study chemistry[3] at Brown University.[2] Evans and several friends founded the Brown Freethinkers Society, a group of self-professed "militant atheists" working against organized religion, which picketed Brown's required weekly chapel services. The story was picked up nationally.[3] As a result, the paper company canceled Evans' scholarship, and Evans contacted Joseph Lewis, president of the Freethinkers Society, and Lewis threatened the paper company with a lawsuit if the scholarship were dropped. The scholarship stayed in place, with Evans switching to a major in political science.[3] Evans withdrew from Brown and moved to Greenwich Village[2] in 1963, which he later described as the best move he ever made in his life.[3] Evans was admitted to City College of New York in 1966,[3] switching his major to philosophy from political science, and graduating in 1967. He afterwards joined the doctoral program at Columbia in philosophy, where he focused on ancient Greek philosophy while continuing to take part in protests.[2] His doctoral advisor was Paul Oskar Kristeller.[3]
Career in writing and activism
New York City
He became politically active in the 1960s, participating in his first sit-in on May 13, 1966, when he and other students occupied the administration building of City College in protest against the college's involvement in Selective Service.[3] He also participated in a number of anti-war protests, including the 1968 Columbia protests.[3][6] In 1967, Evans signed a public statement declaring his intention to refuse to pay income taxes in protest against the U.S. war against Vietnam.[6] He also participated in the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.[7][3] While at Columbia, Evans joined the Student Homophile League, founded by Nino Romano and Stephen Donaldson, although Evans himself was still closeted.[7]
He was not at the Stonewall Riots in 1969,[2][3] but they did fuel him into a "militant fervor," according to the New York Times, and inspired him to join the Gay Liberation Front[2] along with Arthur Bell. Within GLF, he co-created a cell called the Radical Study Group to examine the history of homophobia and sexism, with participants including Evans, Bell, John Lauritsen, Larry Mitchell, and Steve Dansky. However, he and others felt the group was not coherent[3] and assertive enough, and also that it was diluting its effectiveness by focusing on issues such as racial discrimination and the Vietnam War.[2] On December 21, 1969, Evans, Marty Robinson, and several others met to found the early gay rights group Gay Activists Alliance,[7] with a more aggressive ethos than GLF and 12 starting members. Evans wrote the group's statement of purpose, as well as much of its constitution.[2] Based out of New York, the group used methods such as "zaps" to draw attention to discrimination, confronting Mayor John V. Lindsay and demonstrating against legislation of the time, for example a regulation at the time requiring gay pe
Early life and education
Evans was born on October 12, 1942[5] in York, Pennsylvania. His father was a factory worker, while his mother ran a beauty shop in the front of their family home.[2] Evans graduated from public high school in 1960,[3] afterwards receiving a four-year scholarship from the Glatfelter Paper Company in York to study chemistry[3] at Brown University.[2] Evans and several friends founded the Brown Freethinkers Society, a group of self-professed "militant atheists" working against organized religion, which picketed Brown's required weekly chapel services. The story was picked up nationally.[3] As a result, the paper company canceled Evans' scholarship, and Evans contacted Joseph Lewis, president of the Freethinkers Society, and Lewis threatened the paper company with a lawsuit if the scholarship were dropped. The scholarship stayed in place, with Evans switching to a major in political science.[3] Evans withdrew from Brown and moved to Greenwich Village[2] in 1963, which he later described as the best move he ever made in his life.[3] Evans was admitted to City College of New York in 1966,[3] switching his major to philosophy from political science, and graduating in 1967. He afterwards joined the doctoral program at Columbia in philosophy, where he focused on ancient Greek philosophy while continuing to take part in protests.[2] His doctoral advisor was Paul Oskar Kristeller.[3]
Career in writing and activism
New York City
He became politically active in the 1960s, participating in his first sit-in on May 13, 1966, when he and other students occupied the administration building of City College in protest against the college's involvement in Selective Service.[3] He also participated in a number of anti-war protests, including the 1968 Columbia protests.[3][6] In 1967, Evans signed a public statement declaring his intention to refuse to pay income taxes in protest against the U.S. war against Vietnam.[6] He also participated in the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.[7][3] While at Columbia, Evans joined the Student Homophile League, founded by Nino Romano and Stephen Donaldson, although Evans himself was still closeted.[7]
He was not at the Stonewall Riots in 1969,[2][3] but they did fuel him into a "militant fervor," according to the New York Times, and inspired him to join the Gay Liberation Front[2] along with Arthur Bell. Within GLF, he co-created a cell called the Radical Study Group to examine the history of homophobia and sexism, with participants including Evans, Bell, John Lauritsen, Larry Mitchell, and Steve Dansky. However, he and others felt the group was not coherent[3] and assertive enough, and also that it was diluting its effectiveness by focusing on issues such as racial discrimination and the Vietnam War.[2] On December 21, 1969, Evans, Marty Robinson, and several others met to found the early gay rights group Gay Activists Alliance,[7] with a more aggressive ethos than GLF and 12 starting members. Evans wrote the group's statement of purpose, as well as much of its constitution.[2] Based out of New York, the group used methods such as "zaps" to draw attention to discrimination, confronting Mayor John V. Lindsay and demonstrating against legislation of the time, for example a regulation at the time requiring gay pe
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 18, 2026
Je commence à avoir lu pas mal de livres (fictions ou non) queers des années 70 et arrive à me faire une vision critique de la pensée de l'époque. C'est très agréable de lire ce texte en le contextualisant. Toutefois pour les personnes n'ayant pas toutes les refs ni même le "bagage nécessaire" le travail éditorial de préface / postface / note de bas de page et actualisation du texte est si bien fait que la lecture en est très agréable est enrichissante.
July 26, 2026
Ce n'est pas un livre d'histoire, mais c'est un livre qui offre une perspective tellement radicale, tellement fraîche, pleine de colère belle et de sensualité qu'il donne véritablement envie de s'unir à ce que l'autorité christo-industrielle et étatique a toujours attaqué : le queer, le vivant, le sexe, le fluide. Donne envie de changer de vie, de baiser et de faire les deux sans s'excuser. On a toujours voulu nous éradiquer, nous, personnes queer, pour les profits d'une poignée de puissant et le contrôle, et ce livre anime des feux de révolte et nous permet d'être les chaînons d'une histoire qui commence bien avant nos souffrances et les contextualisent. Fondamental.
February 20, 2026
Un livre qui a peut être mal vieilli, mais essentiel pour la culture LGBTQIA+ et trop bien écrit pour ne pas se plonger dans les réflexions d'Arthur Evans.
L'édition française de Le passager clandestin est une pépite.
L'édition française de Le passager clandestin est une pépite.
March 30, 2026
Intéressant mais un peu chiant sur la longue
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews