Deviates, Inc.

“Hack, hack, hack. I wouldn’t pay twenty-five cents to spit on a Georgia O’Keeffe painting. And I think she’s a horrible person, too. I know her…So arrogant, so sure of herself. I’m sure she’s carrying a dildo in her purse.”

Truman Capote! (I am so incorporating that last sentence into my vocabulary.)

“Hack, hack, hack. I wouldn’t pay twenty-five cents to spit on a Georgia O’Keeffe painting. And I think she’s a horrible person, too. I know her…So arrogant, so sure of herself. I’m sure she’s carrying a dildo in her purse.”

Truman Capote! (I am so incorporating that last sentence into my vocabulary.)

Jane Stembridge (on the left), the Virginia native poet who volunteered to be the first secretary of SNCC, 1962

Jane is my new hero.

YOU GUYS

Edgar Sandifer

Dorothy Allison with Alix Layman and Wolf Michael, 1994

photo by Robert Giard

1986

guywoodhouse:

The sheer volume of fluorocarbons this photo shoot must have released into the atmosphere had to have been staggering.

Remember when you emailed this to me, Thom? It was like Christmas.

Executive femme realness, 1981

Yay!

Dolly Parton and Fannie Flagg

My gay Southern heart about burst when I saw this

Edgar Sandifer (left) and Dirk at a restaurant booth

Edgar Allen Sandifer, Jr. was born on October 4, 1929, in Cotton Valley, Louisiana, to Beulah Myrtis and Harvey Edgar Allen Sandifer, a Southern Baptist minister. Professing to have never been in the closet, even while in the military, Sandifier served in the Korean War from 1950-1953 and was honorably discharged as a sergeant with an operative care specialization. His experience in the Army’s Operative Care Unit led to his work as a nursing home administrator from 1955-1977. Sandifer officiated gay wedding ceremonies throughout the 1970s. At a 1958 Mattachine Society meeting, Sandifer was referred to as “the only queer from the South” (quotes from Outweek, June 27, 1990).

Sandifer fought for gay, lesbian, women’s, elderly, laborer, prisoner, and minority causes, creating a wide network of humanitarian affiliations and memberships. His grassroots work aimed to change the status quo and fill gaps in government social services through education, legal, and monetary support services. His organizational projects include the Mississippi Gay Alliance (MGA) where he was director from 1973-1989; the Jackson Gray Panthers (JGP) where he was project director from 1976-1987; and the Persons with AIDS Project (PWA), an MGA offshoot, where he was director from 1982-1989. He was also on the board of directors for the Mississippi Health Systems Agency from 1982-1986, the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform from 1982-1986, and the National Gray Panthers Health Watch Task Force. He also served as a member of the Workers World Party and the People’s Anti-War Mobilization (PAM).

Edgar Sandifer (left) and Dirk at a restaurant booth

Edgar Allen Sandifer, Jr. was born on October 4, 1929, in Cotton Valley, Louisiana, to Beulah Myrtis and Harvey Edgar Allen Sandifer, a Southern Baptist minister. Professing to have never been in the closet, even while in the military, Sandifier served in the Korean War from 1950-1953 and was honorably discharged as a sergeant with an operative care specialization. His experience in the Army’s Operative Care Unit led to his work as a nursing home administrator from 1955-1977. Sandifer officiated gay wedding ceremonies throughout the 1970s. At a 1958 Mattachine Society meeting, Sandifer was referred to as “the only queer from the South” (quotes from Outweek, June 27, 1990).

Sandifer fought for gay, lesbian, women’s, elderly, laborer, prisoner, and minority causes, creating a wide network of humanitarian affiliations and memberships. His grassroots work aimed to change the status quo and fill gaps in government social services through education, legal, and monetary support services. His organizational projects include the Mississippi Gay Alliance (MGA) where he was director from 1973-1989; the Jackson Gray Panthers (JGP) where he was project director from 1976-1987; and the Persons with AIDS Project (PWA), an MGA offshoot, where he was director from 1982-1989. He was also on the board of directors for the Mississippi Health Systems Agency from 1982-1986, the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform from 1982-1986, and the National Gray Panthers Health Watch Task Force. He also served as a member of the Workers World Party and the People’s Anti-War Mobilization (PAM).

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas at The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, February 4, 1935

photo by Carl Van Vechten

I don’t know what’s happening here, but I like it

A Smoky Mountain Christmas is a true holiday treasure. By ‘true holiday treasure’ I mean it’s awful. Directed by Henry Winkler [clue #1 of its awfulness], it stars Matthew Blaisdel [clue #2], a ragtag team of East Tennessee orphans [bereft not only of home and parents but also of appropriate accents; clue #3] and of course, Dolly Parton.

If it’s good enough for me to have watched every year of my life, won’t you screen it for yourself/your cats/your Craigslist trick this Christmas Eve?

A “Sunday Punch” performance at Service Club #1 at Camp Polk, Louisiana. The event was played to a capacity crowd of “nearly 800 enthusiastic servicemen.” Edgar Sandifer is second from the left. 1951.

A “Sunday Punch” performance at Service Club #1 at Camp Polk, Louisiana. The event was played to a capacity crowd of “nearly 800 enthusiastic servicemen.” Edgar Sandifer is second from the left. 1951.