Exploring the Wild Gay History of the YMCA

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Many of us have been to the YMCA via summer camp or through a gym membership, but for a century the Y was also an extremely popular gay cruising center-- against the Y's own wishes. Come learn with me about how gay men made the Y their safe space in a time when getting caught was a crime, and what changed.

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Sources

Gay New York by George Chauncey

Portland Vice Scandal (1912-1913) By Peter Boag for Oregon Encyclopedia https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/ar...

American Sexual Histories edited by Elizabeth Reis

Rethinking Sexuality in the Progressive Era by Catherine Cocks

'MACHO TYPES WANTED': THE VILLAGE PEOPLE, HOMOPHOBIA, AND REPRESENTATION IN 1970s by ALEX MIDGLEY

Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall By James Polchin

Men and Women Adrift: The YMCA and the YWCA in the City edited by Margaret Ann Spratt and Nina Mjagkij

History of Homosexuality in Europe and America edited by Stephen Donaldson and Wayne R. Dynes

Military masculinities : identity and the State by Paul R. Higate

Mates and lovers : a history of gay New Zealand by Chris Brickell

Capitalism and Gay Identity by John D’Emilio for The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader

Take the Young Stranger by the Hand: Same-Sex Relations and the YMCA by John Donald Gustav-Wrathall

Out of the Tubs, and Into the Streets! Tracing the history of bathhouse regulations in San Francisco, CA by Stephan Ferris

“YMCA opens door to gay families” from Globe & Mail, November 12, 1992

“Wanna buy a 'y'?” from The Advocate; Feb 14, 1973