“Pansy Balls” in Gay Old New York

Manhattan's Roaring Gay Days

by Richard Frisbie

Out Traveler's Spring 2008 issue is packed with articles to interest any traveler, gay or straight. Who wouldn't want to know about the best spas, the best cruises and the best vacation destinations to mark those important anniversaries? So what if they are gay friendly and/or gay owned. That just means they'll be better run, with more style and always filled with interesting people. Whatever your orientation, there's plenty of eye candy, fashion tips and history in the Spring issue to satisfy the inquiring mind.

I particularly liked the graphic two page spread on Latin America, maps and all, with the gay friendly destinations located. A comprehensive overview of the "official" and "practical" take on gay singles and same sex couples makes it clear where to go and not to go, and what you can expect to find there. Are you thinking of domestic travel destinations instead? Visit the top ten gay spas in the country to find out what makes them "the best". Then read up on Armistead Maupin's San Francisco, or Andy Warhol's Pittsburgh, in articles that offer an insightful look into the men's lives and the cities that helped shape their artistic personalities.

I know this sounds like the well-known lie told about Playboy Magazine: "I read it for the articles." But, really, I picked up this issue of Out Traveler for the history. The striking layout and beautiful people just made the pages easier to turn. What caught my eye was the feature article titled "Manhattan's Roaring Gay Days", by George Chauncey. Those of you who thought New York's gay history started with the Stonewall riot have some surprising things to learn.

Manhattan was a gay Mecca since its first settlement, when Lord Cornbury would cruise the waterfront in drag. From those cross-dressing early days to the present, a gay culture thrived. Sometimes it was discretely behind the scenes, and other times blazoned on the headlines of the nation's major newspapers. This was a phenomenon that crossed gender and race, from highlife to lowlife, as New Yorkers from Harlem to Times Square variously tolerated and celebrated the homosexual lifestyle.

No period in Manhattan's history was more embracing of gay life then the Jazz Era and the Roaring '20s. That was the queerest time, right into the 30's.

"Pansy balls were all the craze, cross-dressing performers were gloriously famous, and the sparkling isle that was the Sodom of America was already a gay travel destination."

"Pansy balls" and "pansies" are fighting words today. Back then they were newspaper headlines. Tourists clamored for pictures with the most outrageous drag queens, gay MCs ruled the top night spots with biting wit, and Pansy Balls drew thousands of gay, bi and straight patrons alike. If you were gay, New York City was the place to be!

In fact, Manhattan was one of more than a half dozen international gay destinations, sharing the limelight with Paris, Havana, London, and, of course, Berlin. Isherwood, Auden, and all the gay literati of the period made these capitals their playground, settling for a time in New York when the political climate elsewhere pushed it to the top of the list. That was the heyday of "Gay New York"!

The author of "Manhattan's Roaring Gay Days" covers 100 years of queer New York history, from culture to subculture, as he introduces the people who lived it. Included is a sidebar of "Where to Retrace Manhattan's Golden Gay Age" to see what's left of the infamous scenes of debauchery he describes in the text. This article is a revelation for the uninitiated and a celebration for the confirmed. And it is one more reason to read the Spring issue of Out Traveler.

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