By the time New York legalized same-sex marriage in 2011, the state and its metropolis, New York City, were widely understood to be a global center of queer life. But how did New York gain this reputation? From the Stonewall Riots of 1969 to the founding of ACT UP in Manhattan in 1987 to the treatment of gay and lesbian victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks, the city has been home to a complicated tapestry of reform, revolution, resistance, and refusal by queer New Yorkers. How did the city, the state, and the nation treat the queer population of New York City in the years before marriage equality? How did queer activists, artists, and professionals navigate tensions between queer liberation and the increasing institutionalization of “gay rights” in mainstream politics and culture?
In this course, we will dive into the history of queer NYC in the years surrounding and following the famous Stonewall Riots. We will study the moral panics of the 1950s, the blossoming of gay, lesbian, and trans communities in the rebellious atmosphere of the 1960s, the intersections of radical social movements with queer organizing in the 1970s, the cultural and political reckoning of the AIDS pandemic, and the rise of neoliberal homonormativity in the years before and during the War on Terror. Readings will include: Daniel Rivers, Elizabeth Kennedy, Madeline Davis, Tourmaline, Audre Lorde, Sarah Schulman, David Wojnarowicz, Jack Lowery, Judith Butler, José Esteban Muñoz, and Jasbir K. Puar.
