The Formation of Gay and Lesbian Identity and Community in the Connecticut River Valley of Western Massachusetts, 1900-1970

ABSTRACT

The formation of lesbian and gay identity and community in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts was greatly shaped by social changes and trends in gender ideology which originated outside the region. Safe and supportive space for the exploration of homosexual identity was limited and limiting, as gay and lesbian residents turned to homoerotic communities away from the area to try to come to terms with and act out their same-sex desires. Gay men and lesbians in the Valley began to generate self-affirming and politically oriented institutions, however, within the context of the radical political culture of the 1960s.