Bad Gays: A Homosexual History

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A principle of understanding our status as gay people both within our culture and within wider society is this: we are not just the protagonists, but also products of history." The above principle guides the work of authors and podcasters Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller in this new and wildly liberatory work of queer historiography which seeks to reveal new insights on LGBTQ history, sexuality, and identity through fourteen hitherto buried examples of homosexual evil and brutishness through the ages. Indeed, while "Be Gay, Do Crimes" may be a catchphrase easily uttered today on social media, there is a deeper relationship between queerness (which has been considered a form of villainy for a large part of history, and continues to be seen as such in several places), criminality, and political power. This book manages to systematically highlight these links while also challenging mainstream assumptions about structures of power and about sexual identity and deviance.

A fascinating look at some famous figures from history prone to a bit of a villainy alongside their queerness. It was eye-opening to get a much closer look at figures and events from history that I knew of. You can watch me talk about all the books I read in February as I set up my reading journal here: https://youtu.be/NY7bgSmoggM This book is about the gays that the queer community does not really want to claim as part of its own because they were "evil or complicated" or both. The authors use the term "bad gays" as an umbrella but know its imperfect. There’s something boring and sanctimonious about only wanting to read histories of gay heroes – but there’s also a darkness about consuming stories of mass murder and sociopathy. Is our lust for heroic narratives more depraved than our addiction to true crime?You and Huw write in Bad Gays : “Both of us are deeply shaped by homosexuality but also deeply unsatisfied by it”. What do you find unsatisfying about homosexuality?

White, James (March 11, 2018). "Writer Etan Cohen Bringing The Bad Guys To DreamWorks Animation". Empire. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019 . Retrieved December 13, 2019. This is particularly true in their dismissive and condemnatory references to Mead's mentor the anthropologist Franz Boas. You would never know from the way his work and research is presented that this was the man who successfully demolished the theories race as spouted by eugenicists. Boas studied the children of immigrants in the USA and demonstrated that they were physically and mentally different from their parents. That rather than there being fixed physical and mental which were determined by what 'race' you were it was your environment which was the major influence on physical and mental development so they changed with each generation. Environment was the key and his work prevented eugenics becoming established within academia. He is denounced by many far right white supremacist groups in the USA and elsewhere as a hate figure and traitor to the 'white' race to this day. Overall, I enjoyed learning about the selected figures and found the commentary on the development of both our understanding and societal treatment of members of the LGBQIA+ community quite interesting. I do, however, believe that this book didn't quite live up to the premise nor its potential.This is the question Bad Gays sets out to rectify. The book, based on Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller’s popular podcast of the same name, examines the lives of “bad gays” — a term that is a bit of a misnomer by design — by exploring how certain historical figures’ actions influenced those around them and how their actions, in turn, were influenced by their sexuality. By doing this, Lemmey and Miller subvert the typical way queer history and politics are usually talked about; this book is about villains, not heroes. Welk, Brian (December 28, 2020). " 'The Boss Baby' Sequel Bumped to September 2021, 'The Bad Guys' Moves to 2022". TheWrap. Archived from the original on December 28, 2020 . Retrieved December 28, 2020. What a great way to do history/think about identity/consider the history of homosexuality. By turns uncomfortable, outrageous and hilarious, this book, taken from the podcast of the same name, was one of my unputdownables of 2022. Looking forward to the next edition already Julia Bell, White Review, Best Books 2022 Vlessing, Etan (March 9, 2018). "Etan Cohen Adapting 'The Bad Guys' Books for DreamWorks Animation". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019 . Retrieved December 13, 2019.