| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation draws upon the works of John D’Emilio in Sexual Politics and Sexual Communities and John Howard in Men Like That to explain the formation of Dallas’ gay community during the second half of the twentieth century. According to D’Emilio, wartime mobilization during World War II provided many gay men and lesbians the opportunity to meet individuals who shared similar desires and identities for the first time. Following the end of the conflict, D’Emilio argued several of these individuals remained in coastal cities where they formed their own communities and homophile organizations. Through his work, Howard suggested men in conservative small, rural communities found opportunities to form both intimate and sexual relationships with other men throughout the last half of the twentieth century.
In 1966, Phil Johnson, a veteran of World War II, organized Dallas’ first homophile organization. In many ways, Johnson epitomized the men and women highlighted throughout D’Emilio’s work, but unlike those individuals, Johnson returned to Dallas where he eventually formed the city’s first homophile organization, the Circle of Friends. By exploring the ways in which Johnson initially deviated from D’Emilio’s framework, we find that gay men and lesbians were able to build a community in Dallas during the last half of the twentieth century. Furthermore, this dissertation contends that rather than railing against the existing political system, community organizers embraced “the Dallas Way,” which enabled them to forge a civil rights movement in Dallas while also contributing to the overall national movement. | |
