HOMOSEXUALITY AND US LAW Flashcards
How was homosexuality viewed in the 1940’s?
- viewed as a ‘mental illness’, as seen in December 1950 when A senate report titled ‘Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government’ leading to the lavender scare
when was biologists Alfred Kinseys ‘sexual behaviour in the human male’ published and what was it about
1948 (post war, same time as setting of streetcar)
Biologist Alfred Kinsey concludes that homosexual behaviour is not restricted to those that identify as homosexual, and that 37% of men have enjoyed homosexual activities at least once. While at this time in the US homosexuality was considered a form of illness, Kinsey’s findings contradict many conservative notions about sexuality.
What were Williams’ attitudes towards his own sexuality?
-grew up in Deep South that was a highly religious area and his upbringing was deeply rooted upon religion(lived in a rectory for many of his early childhood years) completely restraining freedom of sexuality
-battled values of conservative upbringing throughout his life
-only started exploring his sexuality in his late 20’s
-portrayed homosexual characters in his work and was successful despite heavy discrimination at the time but he didn’t want to be restricted to only writing about homosexual topics and identified the main themes of his works as social issues
homosexuality in streetcar
-streetcar deals with the struggle of preserving two (opposing) identities, a struggle Williams shared for most of his life
-inclusion of gay characters in Williams’ work is used more as a device for dramatic effect to provoke society
who did he have a homosexual relationship with and from when?
Frank Merlo, his personal assistant and partner of 15 years.
-met in 1948, around the time in which streetcar is set
when did frank merlo pass away and what was the effect on williams?
His passing in 1963 caused Williams to fall into years of depression and intense drug use, and he never found the same success in his writing again and depression caused him several hospitalisations and admissions to mental health facilities and conversion to Catholicism.
