Lives of Lesbians and Gay Men in England and the United States

Abstract

Lives of Lesbians and Gay Men in England and the United States Allan Bérbubé. Coming Out Under Fire, The History of Gay Men and Women in World War Two (New York: The Free Press, 1990). Hall Carpenter Archives, Gay Men's Oral History Group. Walking After Midnight, Gay Men's Life Stories (London and New York: Routledge, 1989). Hall Carpenter Archives, Lesbian Oral History Group. Inventing Ourselves , Lesbian Life Stories (London and New York: Routledge, 1989). H. F. McMains As gay studies begin to flourish, the sodal history of gay women and men seems confined by the lack of traditional sources. Lesbians and gay men have not generally left documents which aUow historians to examine their experiences. Historical research in the wie es eigentlich gewesen tradition has been difficult to pursue. Literary topics are more accessible, and gay studies have tended to develop from such academic departments as English and phUosophy. Theory often predominates, and there is energetic debate between proponents of biological-essentiatist and social-constructivist models. Studies of historical attitudes—ranging from John BosweU to B. R. Burg—depend on a titerary record created by enemies and persecutors. It is, therefore, interesting that aU three of these books— two oral histories, from the Hall Carpenter Archives (London) and a monograph by AUan Bérubé—come from outside the current academic debate over theory. The HaU Carpenter Archives functioned in London during the mid1980s . Its Oral History Projed's purpose was to coUect statements "of a cross-range of ordinary lesbians and gay men ... to emphasize the Ufe stories of older people and people who have been marginalized within the historical accounts so far: people with disabilities, working-class people, and people from ethnic or cultural minority backgrounds." Volunteers conduded about sixty interviews, and half have been edited into these two volumes. The two coUections include several interesting tife stories. The most successful interviews are with older subjects who remember World War II. Perhaps age has made them confident and aware of the world beyond themselves. Myrtle Solomon mentions in passing that she drove a mobüe canteen in London and worked in a fadory during the war but says more © 1991 Journal of Women's History, Vol 2 No. 3 (Winter) 140 Journal of Women's History Winter about her pacifist involvements afterward. Dudley Cave was a prisoner of war in the Pacific. And Frank Oliver was with the Entertainments National Service Assodation but had no political interests (aU he says is that "We had 'Winnie/ who fortunately brought us through to victory"). There are minor tidbits of information but no evocative memories of gay women and men in a particular time and place. And, regrettably, interviewers seem not to have probed their subjects' experiences. Interviews with younger subjects predominate. Many interviewees dedare their working-class origins, but the editors do not make a case for representing a larger group of persons at history's margins. AU subjects resided in Greater London and may have been connected to the Archives project. Persons not born in London migrated there at a young age and are not, therefore, a cross-section of gay Britons. About one-third were Commonwealth born, but interviewers did not explore this significant migration that is remaking English urban society. As a group, younger subjects are self-absorbed. The late artist David Ruffell did refer to American cultural influences, as do a few other subjects at lesser length. Younger subjeds are less willing to accept restrictions, and they often join gay-activist groups; they give no indication of seeking political position. Individual life stories are interesting, but there are problems with the ensemble. These books have a working-class bias that itself ignores other gay women and men, and the editors faü to define "ordinary." The emphasis seems to be on gay working-class persons who happen to be ordinary rather than on ordinary Britons who happen to be gay. English history and literature have excluded aU gay Britons, except for some royal tittle-tattle and the novels of Tobias SmoUett, for example. It is, thus, unclear how these interviews with ordinary Londoners of the 1980s are to supply the deficiency in "the historical accounts...