The Un-Natural State: Arkansas and the Queer South

Front Matter

The Un-Natural State The Un-Natural State Arkansas and the Queer South BROCK THOMPSON The University of Arkansas Press Fayetteville 2010 Copyright © 2010 by The University of Arkansas Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America ISBN-10: 1-55728-943-3 ISBN-13: 978-1-55728-943-8 14 13 12 11 10 5 4 3 2 1 Designed by Liz Lester • The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Thompson, Brock, 1977– The un-natural state : Arkansas and the queer South / Brock Thompson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-55728-943-8 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Gays—Arkansas—History. 2. Gays—Identity. 3. Gay community—Arkansas—History. 4. Gay culture—Arkansas— History. 5. Arkansas—Social life and customs. I. Title. HQ76.3.U52A885 2010 306.76'609767—dc22 2010022422 A version of chapter 10 appeared previously in a collection of essays on southern masculinity. Reprinted by permission of Louisiana State University Press from White Masculinity in the Recent South by Trent Watts. Copyright © 2008 by Louisiana State University Press. For my mother and father. . . . and for Opal. I should like to flee like a wounded hart into Arkansas. —OSCAR WILDE ...