ThoughtGallery.org > Second Tuesday Lecture Series: “When Brooklyn Was Queer” By Hugh Ryan

Second Tuesday Lecture Series: “When Brooklyn Was Queer” By Hugh Ryan

“When Brooklyn Was Queer” is the never-before-told story of Brooklyn’s vibrant and forgotten queer history, from the mid-1850s up to the present day. This is a groundbreaking exploration of the LGBTQ history of Brooklyn, from the early days of Walt Whitman in the 1850s up through the queer women who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II and beyond. Not only has Brooklyn always lived in the shadow of queer Manhattan neighborhoods like Greenwich Village and Harlem, but there has also been a systematic erasure of its queer history.

In intimate, evocative, moving prose, Ryan discusses the fundamental questions of what history is, who tells it and how we can only make sense of ourselves through its retelling. This book also shows how the formation of the Brooklyn we know today is inextricably linked to the stories of the incredible people who created its diverse neighborhoods and cultures. Through them, “When Brooklyn Was Queer” brings Brooklyn’s queer past to life, and claims its place as a modern classic.

About Hugh Ryan
Hugh Ryan is a writer, queer historian, archivist and speaker in NYC. He covers queer culture, art and politics. He is the resident historian at them, the Conde Nast LGBTQ publication, where he writes a bi-weekly column called “Themstory.” Ryan was the recipient of the 2015-2016 Martin Duberman Fellowship at the New York Public Library and in 2017 received a New York Foundation for the Arts grant in Nonfiction Literature for this book.











When: Tue., Apr. 9, 2019 at 7:00 pm
Where: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
208 W. 13th St.
212-620-7310
Price: Donation
Buy tickets/get more info now
See other events in these categories:

“When Brooklyn Was Queer” is the never-before-told story of Brooklyn’s vibrant and forgotten queer history, from the mid-1850s up to the present day. This is a groundbreaking exploration of the LGBTQ history of Brooklyn, from the early days of Walt Whitman in the 1850s up through the queer women who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II and beyond. Not only has Brooklyn always lived in the shadow of queer Manhattan neighborhoods like Greenwich Village and Harlem, but there has also been a systematic erasure of its queer history.

In intimate, evocative, moving prose, Ryan discusses the fundamental questions of what history is, who tells it and how we can only make sense of ourselves through its retelling. This book also shows how the formation of the Brooklyn we know today is inextricably linked to the stories of the incredible people who created its diverse neighborhoods and cultures. Through them, “When Brooklyn Was Queer” brings Brooklyn’s queer past to life, and claims its place as a modern classic.

About Hugh Ryan
Hugh Ryan is a writer, queer historian, archivist and speaker in NYC. He covers queer culture, art and politics. He is the resident historian at them, the Conde Nast LGBTQ publication, where he writes a bi-weekly column called “Themstory.” Ryan was the recipient of the 2015-2016 Martin Duberman Fellowship at the New York Public Library and in 2017 received a New York Foundation for the Arts grant in Nonfiction Literature for this book.

Buy tickets/get more info now