Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South

Contents/Maps and Illustrations

contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Some Bitter and Some Sweet: Growing Up Black and Gay in the South 24 2 Coming Out and Turning the Closet Inside Out 109 3 Church Sissies: Gayness and the Black Church 182 4 Do You Get Down?: Homosex in the South 256 5 Trannies, Transvestites, and Drag Queens, Oh My!: Transitioning the South 338 6 Sweet Magnolias: Love and Relationships 430 7 Of Legends and Young’uns: Black Gay Men across Generations 473 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Epilogue: Why This Story Now? 545 Appendix 1. Black Gay Vernacular Terms 549 Appendix 2. Sweet Tea Recipes and Stories 559 Notes 565 Bibliography 569 Index of Narrators 573 Index 575 This page intentionally left blank map & illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . map Narrators’ Hometowns 12 illustrations Freddie in his garden 32 Harold held by his maternal grandmother, ca. 1936 56 Local club in Gerome’s neighborhood 76 Local store in Gerome’s neighborhood 77 Roderick, age four, climbing a fence at the Baton Rouge Zoo 88 Roderick sporting bell bottoms at age three 89 Tony, age three 179 Bryant, age twelve, standing in front of his father’s Electra 225, on his way to Sunday School 199 One of the churches on ‘‘church row’’ in Oklahoma City 241 Bryant’s senior class portrait, 1985 260 Tony, age eighteen, in the musical talent review, ‘‘Feelings,’’ at Winston-Salem State University, 1979 274 Harold at Fort Lee, Virginia, 1959 302 Harold with two students at Seoul National University, where he taught English and American history, 1961 303 Chaz at his salon 342 Chaz in first grade, 1976 344 Chaz, age sixteen, beginning to transition to ‘‘Chastity’’ 350 Chaz in a suit donned to appease his mother 355 Chastity performing ‘‘You Are My Friend’’ 358 Chaz ‘‘giving face’’ 361 Harold and his partner, Harold, in their home 456 Harold and Harold on the Potomac River, 1968 458 Harold and Harold on the beach in California, 1974 461 Countess Vivian in the doorway of his home, 2005 476 Countess Vivian in a World War II Army photo 482 Countess Vivian in his living room, 2005 488 Countess Vivian celebrating Mardi Gras, 2002 490 This page intentionally left blank ...