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Queer Nostalgia in Cinema and Pop Culture pp 58–71Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Sexing the Past: Communal Exposure and Self-Examination in Gay Sex in the 70s

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Abstract

“Sodomy and Justice for All!” was one of the significant messages in gay demonstrations in the early 1970s. In the same spirit, Queers — the anonymous authors of a radical New York pride march leaflet “Queers Read This; I hate Straights” –contend: “We are an army of lovers because it is we who know what love is. Desire and lust, too. We invented desire and lust,” they add. “We come out of the closet, face the rejection of society, face firing squads, just to love each other! Every time we fuck, we win” (Queers, 774 — emphasis added). All-male sexual activities, perhaps the greatest fear (and lust?) of homophobic straight men, are much more than a human need, bodily satisfaction, libidinal force, and stereotypical (gay) male obsession. Homosex is often politicized as a dissident counterpraxis that celebrates transgres-sive desire and its joyful fulfillment. Notably, sex plays a significant role in gay nostalgia as in gay life.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel

    Gilad Padva

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  1. Gilad Padva
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© 2014 Gilad Padva

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Padva, G. (2014). Sexing the Past: Communal Exposure and Self-Examination in Gay Sex in the 70s. In: Queer Nostalgia in Cinema and Pop Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137266347_4

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