Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJanuary 2nd, 2012
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Governor vows to rid islands of homosexuals: 1963. The following item appeared below the fold of the front page of the Virgin Islands Daily News:
Action to Rid Here of Deviates Begins
Governor Paiewonsky today declared that his Administration has no intention of permitting the Virgin Islands to become a haven for homosexuals in which to spread their peculiar perversions.
To this end he has directed Commissioner of Public Safety, Otis L. Felix to undertake an immediate investigation into the extent of the problem in the Virgin Islands simultaneous with an all out drive against offenders.
If existing law is inadequate, says the Governor, the Attorney General will prepare legislation designed to eliminate this offensive activity in the Islands.
Noting that a large number of such persons are reported to have come to the Virgin Islands from other places, the Governor stated that the public interest required that our children be protected from the spread of homosexual practices.
The U.S. Virgin Islands repealed its sodomy law on October 18, 1984, with repeal becoming effective on January 16, 1985.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY:
William Haines: 1900. From 1924 through 1930, he was one of Hollywood’s most dashing leading men during the Silent era, and he was already starting to successfully transition to talkies when he picked up a sailor in Los Angeles’s Pershing Square and took him to a room at the YMCA. The police raided the Y and Haines was arrested. MGM head Louis B. Mayer demanded that Haines enter into a sham marriage to salvage his career, but Haines refused to leave his longtime lover Jimmie Shields. Haines was fired and his name was entered into the so-called Doom Book, the blacklist maintained by Hays Commission.
Haines and Sheilds turned their attentions to each other and to interior design. Their design business took off quickly, thanks to Haines’s connections in Hollywood which allowed them to become the designers to the stars. Clients included Joan Crawford, Gloria Swanson, Carole Lombard, George Cukor, Betsy Bloomingdale, the Annenbergs and the Reagans. Haines and Shields remained together for nearly fifty years, prompting their friend Joan Crawford to dub them the “the happiest married couple in Hollywood.” Gloria Swanson tried to get Haines back into the movie studio for Sunset Boulevard in 1950, but Haines declined. Haines died on December 26, 1973 of cancer. Soon after, Jimmie Shields put on Haines’s pajamas, crawled into their bed, and took an overdose of pills. They are buried together at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery. In 1999, Haines was the subject of a biography, Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines, Hollywood’s First Openly Gay Star
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StraightGrandmother
January 2nd, 2012
Jim, I do enjoy your Daily Agenda column immensely. To be honest, you are my sole(soul) teacher of sexual minorities and History. Take into account that there are many heterosexual people like me, who are ignorant of the rich contributions of sexual minorities to our society. I wonder if you have ever considered taking your columns and putting them into an e-book? I do read Kindle Books, in fact I am reading a good one right now, in an e-book can you embed a link? A suggestion would be to contact John Shore who recently put out his latest book as an e-book and take advice and get contacts from him.
FWIW I wouldn’t change the format to much, keep it in your calendar format as this brings a wonderful diversity to the subject of the History of Sexual Minorities. One day we read about a movie star, the next day a scientist. I rather like the fact that each article is mixed up and not organized by topic but rather by date. It keeps it interesting.
StraightGrandmother
January 2nd, 2012
I really enjoyed the link to John Haines and Jimmie Shields interior design work. Especially slides 3,6,7,& 8.
Jay Jonson
January 2nd, 2012
Straight Grandmother, Jim does a fine job in providing context and history. You might also check out glbtq.com as a good source of glbtq history and culture.
K in VA
January 2nd, 2012
Billy Haines was a delightful actor, particularly in comedies. He was quitre handsome and very talented. If you’ve never seen any of his movies, keep an eye on TCM’s schedules or look for showing elsewhere (Netflix has a few movies, as I recall).
Subversive Librarian
January 2nd, 2012
Thanks for the information about William Haines; I had not heard of him before (which says much more about me than it does about him, of course). Terrible that he was blacklisted. He’s a great role model for sticking with your convictions and authenticity.
Lindoro Almaviva
January 2nd, 2012
Those designs too my breath away. Specially the canopy style on slyde 9 and the cigarrette holder.
StraightGrandmother
January 2nd, 2012
Jay Johnson, I did as you suggested and visited glbtq.com but I didn’t care for it. There was to much “homoerotic” on there for me. I’m not interested in reading nor viewing that, even if it is art. Just as I am not interested in reading or viewing “hetroerotic.” That website seems to me to be more geared towards sexual minorities, and I am not one.
Jim’s Daily Agenda and Day in History is geared more towards everybody, not primarily sexual minorities. And there is not much (I can’t recall any) erotica in it and I like that. I am a big supporter of civil rights for sexual minorities, but I really don’t want to know the details of your love life. Hold the erotica for me, thank you! I don’t mind small amounts of PDA as this is normal spontaneous human nature, by any couple gay or straight.
But again Jay Johnson than you for suggesting it to me.
jpeckjr
January 2nd, 2012
Perhaps the most important lesson from Mr. Haines’ story is his resilience and his capacity to reinvent himself. I am sure both characteristics were enhanced by having a partner in life beside him. That’s what the best marriages are about.
StraightGrandmother
January 2nd, 2012
jpeckjr= “I am sure both characteristics were enhanced by having a partner in life beside him. That’s what the best marriages are about.”
StraightGrandmother= Very very true.
Regan DuCasse
January 2nd, 2012
I just love living in Hollywood, but also I am very proud of the history (for better or worse), that ultimately is revealed of otherwise ignored, but extremely talented minorities. Whether they are gay or people of color.
Jim’s columns are an example of the history of gay and lesbians contributions that is debated on introducing into the curriculum of our schools.
But this is one example of not only, as pointed out, the prejudice that destroyed his acting career, but also how he bravely went on using his other talents to distinguish himself.
I have asked the question what is the harm in a young person gay or not, knowing that…and of course, an appropriate and honest answer is NEVER forthcoming.
Soren456
January 2nd, 2012
@Grandmother: Nearly every college of any size now has at least a survey course on gay/queer studies, open to any student. In addition, a huge number of books on gay history–from surveys to specifics–is available in stores like B&N, and online from Amazon. Check them out.
If you’re serious, either of these is preferable to this not very careful, unproofed and uncorrected column.
Blair Martin
January 3rd, 2012
William J Mann is one of my favourite authors, who can write well in either narrative fictions (check out his “Men From The Boys/Where The Boys Are/Men Who Love Men” trilogy) and his biographies, the one on Kate Hepburn is a masterpiece. I believe, his “Wisecracker” work on Billy Haines was his first and has since gone on to write about John Schlesinger and Elizabeth Taylor as well. He is a great standard bearer for us in the queer community and a great role model too.
(Yes, I am an unabashed fan!)
Timothy Kincaid
January 3rd, 2012
I have little interior decorating instinct and the examples shown are definitely not my taste, but even I can see that Haynes was very skilled.
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