The Old Left, we’re told, was narrowly focused on issues of class to the detriment of other struggles, such as those of queer people. But Aaron Lecklider argues that there has long been an affinity between political and sexual dissidents. He suggests that McCarthyism and the Cold War obscured history that was an open secret in the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and beyond – of the complex entanglement of homosexuality and communism. (Encore presentation.)

Resources:

Aaron Lecklider, Love’s Next Meeting: The Forgotten History of Homosexuality and the Left in American Culture UC Press, 2021