Will Fellows

Gay bar : the fabulous, true story of a daring woman and her boys in the 1950s by Will Fellows is a perfect companion to Secret Historian by Justin Spring. Gay Bar, originally published in 1957 by Helen Branson is the story of the bar she owned in Los Angeles in the 1950s. Fellows intersperses his history of gay life in the 1950s in between the chapters of Branson's original book. It's a great combination and very interesting depiction of life and the gay community during the conformist 50s when gays were barred from holding federal government jobs and sometimes jailed for gathering in places like Hanson's bar.

The book has an extensive bibliography and Fellows draws heavily from the Mattachine Review and One, two gay magazines published during the time. I didn't know much about either of these pubs and Gay Bar provided a good insight into the editorial positions of these magazines.… (mais)