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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1998)
Q ueer H istory : O xymoron N o M ore Sponsored by the Washington State Historical Society, the Do Ask, Do Tell symposium is itself a historic event ueer history: For centuries, at the hands of conservative educators, researchers and policy makers, the term has been an oxymoron. Dig into the annals of any given historical period in search of an account of queer life, and what you’re likely to find is stone-cold silence. But in this region, that’s about to change. Do Ask, Do Tell: Outing Pacific Northwest History takes place October 24 and 25 at the Washing ton State History Museum in downtown Taco ma, Wash. The symposium features a panel of national ly-known historians and writers, and an array of roundtable discussions on topics of interest to local folks. Topics for discussion include “The Interpre tation of Historic Sites Associated with Gays and Lesbians in Seattle” and “Creating Com munity from the Ground Up: Lesbian Spaces and Lives in Oregon.” The symposium features 45 presenters over the course of two days. Sponsored by the Washington State Histori cal Society and several other history-minded groups, Do Ask, Do Tell is the first queer sympo sium in the Pacific Northwest—and very likely the first in the nation—to be sponsored by a state historical society, organizers say. “History is our business,” says Garry Schalliol, the Washington State Historical Society’s direc tor of education. “There are a lot of areas that haven’t been extensively covered, and gay and lesbian history is definitely one of them. We thought that it was time.” Schalliol says he hopes the symposium will draw a more “mixed” crowd than the typical academic conference. “In a way, this is a fairly traditional scholarly conference,” he says. “We put out a call for papers and presenters and got a good response. But I’m hoping that in addition to the scholars we also get people from respective communities and people who have a family connection to the issue.” Tom Cook, president of the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest, located in Portland, served on the symposium’s program committee. Cook says his interest in queer history paral leled his fascination with his own genealogy. “History is personal and unique,” he says. “Seeing your own connections to greater events and movements is the key to getting people interested.” Cook says he dived into his own genealogy when he came out to his mother. “She said, ‘I’ve been through this before,’ ” he says. Cook came out to his mother, and she, in a way, came out to him—his mother had a boyfriend in the 1930s who had turned out to be gay- “I went back and looked at the pictures and thought, ‘How obvious,’ ” Cook says now. “He’d send her pictures back from the war with notes her zeal for the past was also fueled by an intensely personal connection. Faderman will deliver the symposium’s keynote address. “When I was first coming out in the 1950s, the only traces of lesbians in books and media were dreadfully negative ones," she says. “Pulp novels always presented us as sick and tragic. It seemed to me that 1 had to look for history that countered that, and indeed I found it.” Faderman’s search yielded her enough mate- F * -Y i la Outside the Stage Door, a bar on Pioneer Square in Seattle, circa 1960 scribbled on the back about these guys he’d met. He came back in the 1940s and came out to my mother, which amazed me.” Then there was Aunt Ruthie. “She would come to holiday dinners wearing sunglasses with flaming red hair that was cut real short,” he recalls. At some point, Cook says, Aunt Ruthie dis appeared from the radar screen of his life. “I found it was difficult to get a conversation going about her, and that’s what got my interest in gay history going,” he says. “All history is per sonal, I think, and the closer it comes to your life the more interesting it is.” Author and historian Lillian Faderman says rial for three books so far, including Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth Century America. She teaches at Cali fornia State University at Fresno, an institution she says has been very accommodating to her over the years. Her next book, To Believe in Women: What Lesbians Have Done for America: A History, will be published next year by Houghton Mifflin. “My impetus is to speak to people who were like me 40 years ago,” she says. “While much has changed, we have to guarantee that things con tinue to move forward. I’m trying to retrace les bian history, not primarily for the academy but for the general reader.” “^e/tanto • New purchase • 100% equity loans • Pre-qualification by pnone or fax • Refinance/cash out • Pre-approved loans • Residential, commercial & investment property • Appointments at your convenience my tetíwieKt Evenings/Weekends 780-1561 “Im available when you are! ” Colleen Weed ¿to MORTGAGE Advocates 9900 S. W. Wilshire Street • Portland, Oregon 97225 While Faderman and others have managed to earn a living from their passion, others have not been so fortunate. “There’s fame attached to what I’ve done, but no fortune,” says featured speaker Jonathan Ned Katz, author of Gay American History, pub lished in 1976 and considered by many to be the base line of queer history. He also wrote the Gay and Lesbian Almanac and The Invention of Heterosexuality. He is cur rently working on a book about sexuality and affection between men in the 19th century United States, which he describes as his most accessible work yet. In 1995, Publishing Tri angle, an association of queer publishers in New York, bestowed upon Katz its life time achievement award. Still, he says, he’s never sup ported himself with his writ ing. Over the years he’s paid the bills by doing odd jobs, including secretarial work. Katz says his interest in history was fueled by his experience in the gay libera 8 iK tion movement. In 1971 he 1 joined the Gay Activist 1 Alliance in New York City and served on its media com mittee, which strived to rep resent the new queer con sciousness. “I was inspired by the gay movement,” he says. “Gay history wasn’t undertaken until there was a militant political movement. The two go hand in hand." Katz describes his approach to history in very nonacademic terms. “History is high-class gossip, but it’s docu mented," he says. “It’s like exploring the lost world, like detective work. I’m interested in every detail. In fact, 1 want more.” ■ For more information about Do A sk , Do T ell : O uting P acific N orthwest H istory , contact Garry Schalliol at the Washington State Historical Society, 1911 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, WA 98402; phone (253) 798-5879; e-mail gschalliol@wshs.wa.gov; or visit THE Web site www. wshs. org/text/notice. htm. I am a) alive, b) well, and c) still showing homes and educating buyers and sellers. 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