Vintage photos of gay couples

[begin_within]

I thought this was very interesting. Maybe not all are necessarily gay, but most are lovey-dovey.

http://everydaygay.blogspot.com/2010/06/100-years-of-gay-couples-part-one-1875.html

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Kick

And rec

[enlightenment]

2. Very nice.

I agree that a few could be debated as to whether or not the men depicted are a couple - standards of male affection have changed over the years - but they are all lovely photos that show sincere regard and sensibility.

[qb]

3. Beautiful pictures. Thank you!

This reminds me of Stan Laurel and Larry Semon in "Frauds and Frenzies" (1918). The two are on a chain gang for the crime of being "sofa sheiks". Obviously in love, they sneak away from the rest of the chain gang to snuggle up behind a rock. They get busted by the warden, of course, but manage to escape. A nice "pre-code" film.

Oddly, the two synopses I managed to find online mention nothing of the gay element.

[HillbillyBob]

4. In those days you could tell a persons status by clothes

and you see a variety from soldiers, sailors, to farmers and city gentlemen or office worker.
Some are very touching too. Just wow, we tend for forget what went before and the right would have us believe we are a new invention. Homos have been part of the world for forever.

[pinto]

5. Kick.

:kick:

[Withywindle]

6. Such beautiful pictures - recommended.

Threads like this make me wish that GLBT-themed posts didn't wind up in the "pink ghetto." There are many, MANY people in GD and GD: P who really need some visceral, emotional education that queerness wasn't invented in the frakkin' 60s.


edit: because typing the abbreviation of General Discussion: Presidential tends to turn into this: GD:P Take that as you will.

[PanoramaIsland]

7. Perhaps we should start making "I'm gay/lesbian/etc., just like [historical figure]" pins?

I'm lesbian, just like Sappho!
I'm gay, just like Socrates!
I'm lesbian, just like Jane Addams!

Obvious problems with telegraphing contemporary Western constructions of sexuality onto people of other eras and cultures aside, it could work!

[Withywindle]

8. I'd be down with it!

I'm bisexual, just like Abraham Lincoln and Alexander the Great!

I'm just so weary of historical GLBT love stories being explained away as something other than what they obviously are. Even though our modern conceptions of sexual orientations and identities are, well, modern, the fact is that same-gender erotic love is as old as humanity and has ALWAYS deserved the same respect as different-gender erotic love.

[PanoramaIsland]

9. Agreed. Just like we can admit to both biological and social determinants...

...for sexuality, we can both acknowledge social construction of sexualities and honor queer sexuality throughout history.

This makes me wish I had a button press!

[Withywindle]

10. I just love these pictures.

They are so beautiful. I just love to see cute couples snuggling.

But you can't see two guys snuggling on US network TV, because apparently the networks' mostly highly-desired demographic (males 18-34) FLIP THEIR SHIT if two boys hug and kiss.

Meanwhile, there are queer romance storylines on afternoon soap operas (the stereotypical demographic territory of older married women) and on SF/F shows like Buffy and Torchwood and True Blood (the stereotypical demographic of straight men, but hello, apparently more women and queer men are watching and approving than the powers that be thought!)

[HillWilliam]

11. I love the three-panel, photo-booth strip with the two sailors

where one slowly steals a smooch by the last panel. That's just SO damn sweet! Reminds me of HillbillyBob or me swiping a smooch from each other; the smooch-ee still gets that tickled-to-bits smile.

And the other one where someone wrote "Ain't love grand". I agree with the collector: yes, it most certainly is. I don't give a damn who approves or doesn't. I wouldn't have missed these last 14-1/2 years with the most breathtakingly wonderful, sweet man whoever stepped into (or out of :) ) jeans.

It's almost like a message in a bottle, seeing that little note on that photograph and feeling a connection with that couple.

Wonderful post. Thanks for sharing.

[Cherchez la Femme]

12. What, no women?

:(

Still, love them all; the 3rd one down will stay with me, such a look of adoration!

& reminds me I've got to read Brideshead Revisited again!