George Chauncey, Historian of LGBTQ+ Life and Kluge Prize Recipient, Releases New Video Series “Through History to Equality”

George Chauncey, recipient of the 2022 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity, released three videos today with the Library of Congress examining the experiences of LGBTQ+ Americans. These are now available to watch on loc.gov and the Library’s YouTube channel.

In “From Sexual Regulation to Antigay Discrimination,” Chauncey is interviewed by Library of Congress Chief Communications Officer Roswell Encina on the history of how LGBTQ+ people in the United States were treated throughout the 20^th century; the ways that their legal, social, and political treatment changed over the years; and the lives that people created for themselves in the shadow of discrimination.

In “Why Marriage Equality Became a Goal,” Chauncey interviews civil rights attorney Mary Bonauto, who has worked on the most significant legal cases dealing with marriage equality over the past 30 years. In this interview, Chauncey and Bonauto discuss the significance of the goal of marriage and why they think both the law and public opinion changed so rapidly as equality became the law of the land.

In “AIDS: A Tragedy and a Turning Point,” Chauncey convened a panel of experts to discuss the AIDS crisis that took the lives of a generation of gay people, including many who were writers and community leaders, even as it also set the stage for changes to come by prompting a new wave of activism and leading to an outpouring of LGBTQ+ people embracing their identities. In the discussion, Chauncey, Deborah Gould, Duane Cramer and Jafari Allen revisit the early history of AIDS and discuss the fear and loss as well as the action and assertiveness that came from that dark time.

Learn more about George Chauncey here and watch his speech upon receiving the John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity here.

About George Chauncey
Chauncey is the first scholar in LGBTQ+ studies to receive the Kluge Prize. He is known for his pioneering 1994 history “Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940,” his 2004 book “Why Marriage? The History Shaping Today’s Debate over Gay Equality,” and his testimony and other work as an expert witness in more than 30 court cases related to LGBTQ+ rights. These include such landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases as Romer v. Evans (1996), Lawrence v. Texas (2003), and the marriage equality cases United States v. Windsor (2013) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015).

“Gay New York,” released in 1994 during the 25^th anniversary of the LGBTQ+ rights protests at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, looks at the gay community in New York City before World War II, utilizing newspapers, police records, oral histories, diaries and other primary sources to show that there was a much more vibrant and visible gay world than previously believed and to argue that there was a permeable boundary between straight and gay behavior, especially among working-class men. “Gay New York” won numerous prizes for its scholarship including the Frederick Jackson Turner Prize from the Organization of American Historians, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History, and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men’s Studies.

“Why Marriage?” draws on Chauncey’s extensive research prepared for court cases in which he provided expert testimony. It traces the history of both gay and anti-gay activism and discusses the origins of the modern struggle for gay marriage.

About the Kluge Prize
The Kluge Prize recognizes individuals whose outstanding scholarship in the humanities and social sciences has shaped public affairs and civil society. Awarded by the Library of Congress to a scholar every two years, the international prize highlights the value of researchers who communicate beyond the scholarly community and have had a major impact on social and political issues. The prize comes with a $500,000 award.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

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Media Contact: Elaina Finkelstein, efinkelstein@loc.gov

PR 23-090
10-16-2023
ISSN 0731-3527