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The Gay Greek Myths Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths, Restored and Retold by Andrew Calimach; Haiduk Press; 182 pages; $25.00.
But homophobic posterity has censored the ancient myths, "straightening" them out beyond recognition. Those of us who grew up on Thomas Bulfinch or Edith Hamilton know all about Zeus's stormy marriage to his sister Hera but little about his passion for the handsome Trojan prince, Ganymede. In Lovers' Legends, The Gay Greek Myths, Andrew Calimach has restored and retold some of these ancient myths. "The stories in this collection," writes Calimach, "restored from original sources in translation, outline the archetypal territory of Greek male love, as well as the boundaries crossed only at risk of divine retribution. We know of many more such tales, but they, as countless other treasures of ancient Greece, have been lost or destroyed."
Finally, I decided to gather the stories myself, despite being unfamiliar with the classics, an experience a lot like that of "a blind man finding a jewel in a heap of dust." I can only hope that my amateur effort will inspire someone better qualified to do justice to these important and beautiful myths, cornerstones of the gay canon." Lovers' Legends is essential reading for anyone who is interested in the origins of the western homosexual tradition. Sex Crime Panic: A Journey to the Paranoid Heart of the 1950s, by Neil Miler; Alyson Books; 314 pages; $14.95.
Neil Miller is the author of Out in the Past and the award-winning In Search
of Gay America. Sex-Crime Panic: A Journey to the Paranoid Heart of the
1950s, is the story of a little-known antigay purge that rocked Sioux City,
Iowa in 1955. The brutal death of two children led the public and the media
to demand a crackdown against "sexual deviates."
Taking advantage of a newly-enacted law "for the confinement of persons who are dangerous criminal sexual psychopaths", 20 gay men were rounded up and sent to the state mental hospital at Mount Pleasant, where they remained until they were "cured". Their story is not pretty, but it is part of our history, and it is to Miller's credit that he could make a vivid and fascinating book out of this sordid tale. "Because it concerns itself with events that took place almost 50 years ago - events that many people wanted to forget - researching Sex-Crime Panic more often resembled detective work than conventional historical research." As part of his "detective work", Miller interviewed most of the survivors of the Sioux City panic (on both sides); pored over court documents and local newspapers; and left no stone unturned in order to bring this 47-year old scandal to light. Needless to say, most of the victims wanted nothing more than to forget such a terrible time in their lives, and were very reluctant to bring back bitter memories for the sake of history. That Miller got so many of them to talk speaks volumes about his talents as a journalist and historian. Nearing the end of his book, Miller notes that "what happened in Sioux City in 1955 remains a cautionary tale. After all, the Iowa sexual psychopath law was supposed to lock up serious sex offenders, not the hairdressers and window dressers of Sioux City." Today, every state in the union has "sexual psychopath" laws enacted to "reassure an anxious public" in the wake of brutal child murders. These laws can and have been used against gay men, especially in states that still have sodomy laws. The time is ripe for another "sex-crime panic"; and it is up to us to remain vigilant to make sure it doesn't happen again.
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Half the world knows about "Greek love": homoerotic relations between adult
men and adolescent boys. As reflections of the Hellenic spirit, the gods and
heroes of classic Greek mythology were also "Greek lovers".
Jesse Monteagudo is a Cuban-born freelance writer who has lived in South Florida since 1964. His book reviews, news stories, essays and fictions have appeared in over thirty gay or mainstream publications and over two dozen anthologies. When not writing (or working at his day job), Monteagudo spends his time with his life partner of over 16 years or doing volunteer work for one of several South Florida organizations. He was awarded a Stonewall Award in 1994 and a Stars of the Rainbow Award in 1997 for his contributions to South Florida LGBT organizations, media and journalism. Monteagudo is also working on a book. He can be reached at jessemonteagudo@aol.com