(We spoke to them back in February about their business, and why you’ll never want to buy a bottle of RUSH again.) They’re one of the great gay holiday gifts for the guy you want to lure to bed. But seriously, no one does bespoke poppers like the guys at Double Scorpio, an Austin-based “farm to disco” label. You know, for all those VHS tapes boxed up in your friend’s closet that need cleaning. Seriously, tell your friend to throw those white athletic socks away. Life’s too short to own boring socks, OK? Nothing adds a little zing to an everyday outfit quite like a pop of color or funky print around your gay friend’s perfectly sculpted ankles. Here are 12 gay holiday gifts for the handsome homo in your life: 1. But there are a few tried-and-true gay holiday gifts that will never let you down.
Let’s say you’ve come across what you think is a cute little stocking stuffer. Oliver Stabbe is a former intern in the Division of Medicine and Science and an undergraduate student at the University of Rochester.Gay men are notoriously difficult to shop for. It is this fighting spirit that allowed balls to thrive, and that spirit lives on through today within the LGBTQ community.įor more information about the early drag ball scene, the author recommends George Chauncey's Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890–1940. From the early days of the balls, remarkable persistence of patrons and ball organizers in the face of adversity made the drag ball scene unstoppable. Rather than abandoning the scene, the participants fought for change and opportunity. Historian George Chauncey has pointed out that Harlem "enhanced the solidarity of the gay world and symbolized the continuing centrality of gender inversion to gay culture." Powering through harassment and arrests, Harlem became a "homosexual mecca." Police, politicians, and mainstream society found themselves simply unable to suspend the famous ball scene. The balls were crucial in the creation and maintenance of LGBTQ culture. lit up like high mass." Though drag balls were created for fun and as a place to connect with other gay men, the association of the notorious balls to LGBTQ people helped pave a way for the establishment of queer culture. The writers, in their co-authored The Young And Evil, detailed their extraordinary experience on the floor as "a scene whose celestial flavor and cerulean coloring no angelic painter or nectarish poet has ever conceived. Among them were Charles Henri Ford and Parker Tyler, two writers who found themselves attracted to the exotic nature of the balls. The balls did not attract just queer patrons, though straight artists, writers, and ball appreciators outside the LGBTQ community frequented these spectacles for their renowned reputation. What were once known as Masquerade and Civic Balls were dubbed "Faggots Balls" by the general public after it became well known that these spectacles were frequented by gay, lesbian, and transgender people. The committee later released 130 reports describing its visits, demanding that such perversion must desist.īy the 1920s, the balls had gained more public visibility. The report described a scene filled with "phenomenal" "male perverts" in expensive frocks and wigs, looking like women. In 1916, the committee released a report detailing the scandalous behavior they witnessed. A moral reform organization known as the Committee of Fourteen periodically investigated the balls. Despite their growing popularity, drag balls were deemed illegal and immoral by mainstream society. As the secret of the balls spread within the gay community, they became a safe place for gay men to congregate. In 1869, within Harlem's Hamilton Lodge, drag balls began. While watching a screening of Paris is Burning hosted by the Smithsonian Latino Center, I was entranced by the dazzling participants as they competed, fiercely owning the floor in their glamorous gowns. Twenty-five years ago, this famous cult documentary captured the lives and culture of African American, Latino, gay, and transgender communities involved in New York City drag balls. The film captured a slice of the 1980s unknown to many, with roots in a fascinating culture.