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UIC Professor Emeritus of Gender and Women's Studies and History John D'Emilio will discuss major episodes and moments from Chicago's LGBTQ+ past, stretching from the 1920s to the end of the century.
This history of LGBTQ+ life in Chicago touches on some of the major themes in LGBTQ+ history and is full of surprises as well. The topics discussed will stretch across political activism, social life, culture and arts, and community-building. Among them will be a look at the popular world of drag entertainment in the South Side of Chicago’s African American community in the 1920s and 1930s and the ways that a Chicago-based lesbian writer, Valerie Taylor, transformed the scandalous genre of lesbian pulp fiction in the 1950s into a vehicle for spreading tales of lesbian pride. Taken together, the stories will provide insight into a broad range of historical themes as well as highlighting Chicago’s significance.
This program will be presented using Zoom. Participants must register and provide a working email address to receive the login information.
This program will be recorded.
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