GLR September-October 2025

Editor-in-Chief and Founder R ICHARD S CHNEIDER J R . Managing Editor WORLDWIDE The Gay & Lesbian Review ® PO Box 180300, Boston, MA 02118 GLR k

The Gay & Lesbian Review September–October 2025 • VOLUME XXXII, NUMBER 5 WORLDWIDE

C ONTENTS

Forgotten Histories

F EATURES

J EREMY C. F OX Literary Editor M ARTHA E. S TONE Poetry Editor D AVID B ERGMAN Associate Editors

The Ascension of the Retail Queen 10 W ILLIAM B ENEMANN

“Counter jumpers” were 19th-c. sales clerks, and so much more

The Attraction of Confederate Gents 14 A NDREW H OLLERAN

Civil War-era letters and photos hint at soldiers’ intimate relations

A Romance Almost Lost to History 17 H ARLAN G REENE

S AM D APANAS P AUL F ALLON M ICHAEL S CHWARTZ Contributing Writers R OSEMARY B OOTH D ANIEL A. B URR C OLIN C ARMAN A NNE C HARLES A LFRED C ORN A LLEN E LLENZWEIG C HRIS F REEMAN P HILIP G AMBONE M ATTHEW H AYS H ILARY H OLLADAY A NDREW H OLLERAN I RENE J AVORS J OHN R. K ILLACKY C ASSANDRA L ANGER

A famous Zionist and an anti-Semitic poet shared a youthful secret

The French Evolution of Identities 19 V ERNON R OSARIO

Following WWI, lesbians emerged as a recognizable social type

First to Riot: The Girls of Los Guilucos 21 D ENNY N IVENS

Lesbians led the revolt at the California institution in 1953

Tech v. Hate: Can AI Make Us Safer? 26 S HAHEENA S HEIKH

It can block hate speech, but it can also isolate our online spaces

Léon Delafosse of the Belle Époque 29 C HARLES T IMBRELL

The celebrated pianist ran with Proust, Sargent, and the smart set

R EVIEWS

Nicholas Boggs — Baldwin: A Love Story 31 R EGINALD H ARRIS Robert W. Fieseler — American Scare 32 F RED F EJES

Nathan Kernan — A Day Like Any Other: The Life of James Schuyler 34 A LAN C ONTRERAS Frank Pizzoli – Passionate Outlier: Gay Writers and Allies on Their Work 35 H ANK T ROUT Don Romesburg – Contested Curriculum: LGBTQ History Goes to School 36 J OHN D’E MILIO B OOK B RIEFS 38 David Medina — Shakespeare’s Greatest Love 40 C HARLES G REEN Olivia Wolfgang-Smith — Mutual Interest 41 A NNE C HARLES Brian McNaught — A Prince of a Boy 44 D ANIEL A. B URR Ria Brodell — More Butch Heroes 44 J OAN I LACQUA Eli Clare— Unfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and Dreaming 45 J OHN R. K ILLACKY Michael Koresky — Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age ... 46 R OBERT A LLEN P APINCHAK A RTS B RIEFS 48 Looking for Love in Mostly Wrong Places (film roundup) 49 R ICHARD S CHNEIDER J R .

A NDREW L EAR J AMES P OLCHIN J EAN R OBERTA V ERNON R OSARIO Contributing Artist C HARLES H EFLING Publisher S TEPHEN H EMRICK Webmaster B OSTON W EB G ROUP WebEditor A LLISON A RMIJO ______________________________ Board of Directors

P OEMS & D EPARTMENTS

A RT C OHEN ( CHAIR ) R OBERT H ARDMAN S TEPHEN H EMRICK H ILARY H OLLADAY D AVID L A F ONTAINE J IM J ACOBS A NDREW L EAR

I N M EMORIAM — Remembrances of Edmund White 5 D IMITRIS Y EROS D AVID B ERGMAN L EO R ACICOT BTW 8 R ICHARD S CHNEIDER J R .

A RT M EMO — Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sexual Adventurer 24 D ENISE N OE P OEM — “Argentina” 28 T REBOR H EALEY P OEM —“MRI” 37 B ILLY C LEM A RTIST ’ S P ROFILE — Martin Sherman on Bent and Its Relevance 42 T IM M ILLER P OEM — “Meditation” 46 A MY S PADE C ULTURAL C ALENDAR 47

R ICHARD S CHNEIDER , J R . ( PRESIDENT ) T HOMAS Y OUNGREN ( TREASURER ) S TEWART C LIFFORD ( CHAIR EMER .) W ARREN G OLDFARB ( SR . ADVISOR EMER .)

The Gay & Lesbian Review/ WORLDWIDE ® (formerly The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, 1994-1999) is published bimonthly (six times per year) by The Gay & Lesbian Review, Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational corporation located in Boston, Mass. Subscription rates : U.S.: $41.70 per year (6 issues). Canada and Mexico: $51.70(US). All other countries: $61.70(US). All non-U.S. copies are sent via air mail. Back issues available for $12 each. All correspondence is sent in a plain envelope marked “G&LR.” ISSN: 1077: 6591 © 2025 by Gay & Lesbian Review, Inc. All rights reserved. W EBSITE : www.GLReview.org • S UBSCRIPTIONS : 847-504-8893 • A DVERTISING : 617-421-0082 • S UBMISSIONS : Editor@GLReview.org

September–October 2025

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