early "gay" cite (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Natalie Galustian's "Catalogue of Early Gay Fiction"
http://www.nataliegalustian.com/theyWereWhatTheyWere.pdf
includes four editions of "Scarlet Pansy" by Robert Scully (probably a
pseud. for Robert McAlmon), published as far back as 1932.

The catalogue quotes Hugh Hagius as saying "McAlmon is, I believe, the
first writer to use 'gay' in the sense of same-sex orientation."  And
Fred Shapiro in a Jul 15 2003 ADS-L posts quotes part of a Gary Simes
article which has citations from "Scarlet Pansy" which support this.

The citations are not given any significant context by Simes, and the
auction catalogue doesn't elaborate either, but it is clear that the
book is full of gay content.
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org