At the turn of the century, homosexuality wasn't a lifestyle, a choice, or the result of inheriting the "gay gene." It was a disease. Specifically, it was a neurological disorder that was supposedly treatable through psychotherapy, although not truly curable.
Over the next sixty years, this paradigm underwent serious machinations as homosexuality came into the national consciousness to a greater degree than ever before. The agents of change were primarily gay people themselves-- for the first time they began to see themselves as subjects in the world, not just objects of study or passive patients. They also had some assistance from the medical community, although, as described below, the goals of these two groups often diverged.
When we think of the efforts by non-heterosexual people to educate the heterosexual world, we think of the gay activism of the 60's or its more modern manifestations in community groups and various other social and political entities. But much activity occurred before gay people achieved political awareness. There was a long transition period between the time when homosexuality was pathologized and the time when it was politicized. That is the period covered in "Departing from Deviance," and it is characterized by the first scientific research studies of homosexuality.
Henry Minton, himself a gay man, has dug up the early history of the movement toward homosexual rights-- that is, the concept that gay people are equal to straight people under the US Constitution, and are not mentally ill, inherently dangerous or deviant, or otherwise not qualified to function as full citizens. As usual (as happened with the early history of women's emancipation, for instance), this history has been forgotten and is not passed on in high school classes or even among gay people themselves. It lies hidden, and we need people like Minton to keep it alive. (It is also worth noting that we have hardly finished the project started a century ago, since non-heterosexuals are not yet truly equal to heterosexuals, giving another reason to keep this story alive. It might benefit future activists).
Minton focuses on a few key figures in the tale. These people embarked on the first actual studies of gays, their lives, their thoughts, and their choices. Since there was no concept of a gay political movement, they cannot rightly be called "activists" in the modern sense, but still, it is clear that they were attempting in the only way possible to depathologize homosexuality, to show that they were real people. These studies laid the groundwork for later homosexual consciousness-raising, although that result was unanticipated in the early portion of the century.
Homosexuals had no power, of course. But they did have the ears of prominent psychotherapists and sexologists. The first studies of gay people took place through medical professionals who were advised by homosexuals (often patients) whom they had gotten close to. For instance, Jan Gay (a name she chose in adulthood) exerted influence on psychotherapist Robert Dickinson. Through him, she was allowed to conduct studies during the 1930's of gays and lesbians that probed their lifestyles more deeply than had ever been done before. The homosexual research associates were valuable in leading the doctors to many qualified research subjects. Unfortunately, Gay's results were later co-opted by psychiatrist George Henry, who used them (without credit to her) to support the medical model of homosexuality as a disease.
Thomas Painter was another major figure in homosexual research. His results were never published, but he did the first major ethnographic study of gay men and hustlers in the 30's, and many of his papers survive. Later encouraged by Alfred Kinsey, he kept a detailed journal of his life as a gay man, providing a key case study.
Other important figures include Kinsey, Evelyn Hooker, and Alfred Gross. Their studies helped define homosexuality more clearly, and in Hooker's case, assert that it can occur in psychologically normal people. This was a radical concept at the time.
It is important to note that many of the (heterosexual) medical professionals involved in the early studies of homosexuality had different goals than their gay research participants. Since the medical model was popular, doctors were interested in studies that further tightened their control over the situation. They were none too keen to cede any power to the slowly awakening homosexuals, which not surprisingly eventually led to conflict. But remember that the early "activists" had no other means to communicate their ideas. Talking to psychotherapists with the goal of educating them about homosexuality was the beginning of full-fledged activism.
Minton's history is interesting, although at a few points it gets a bit overdetailed, such as in the description of Painter's life. But I was willing to cut Minton some slack since this information is not well preserved and certainly not well disseminated. His summary in "Departing from Deviance" is one of the few in existence and by far the most complete. So let it get overdetailed, why not. Another slight quibble is that the tone gets very dry at times; some parts of the book read like a sociology thesis.
One other item to note is the dismissal of lesbianism. Although a few studies focused on women, for the most part, female-female attraction was discounted as genuine homosexuality, or at least male-male gayness was perceived as far more significant. As usual, women are assumed to be paler versions of men, if they exist as unique objects at all. Lesbianism was not to gain true national attention until the movements of 1960s. Other forms of queerness, such as bisexuality and transgenderism, were poorly distinguished from homosexuality, and generally misundertood completely. These too had to wait until later.
I'll give "Departing from Deviance" a "+". The topic itself deserves a "strong +" for its importance (and the urgency not to lose it), but the style is a bit difficult at times. Read this book to understand a vital portion of American history that certainly wasn't covered in your mainstream classes.
Copyright © Kim Allen 2002
