The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
2005 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2005.
Paperback edition 2006
Printed in the United States of America
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 5 6 7 8 9
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-35460-6 (cloth)
ISBN-10: 0-226-35460-1 (cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-35462-0 (paper)
ISBN-10: 0-226-35462-8 (paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-78827-2 (ebook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Houlbrook, Matt.
Queer London : perils and pleasures in the sexual metropolis, 19181957 / Matt Houlbrwk.
p. cm. (The Chicago series on sexuality, history, and society)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-226-35460-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. GaymenEnglandLondonHistory20th century. 2. HomosexualityEnglandLondonHistory20th century. 3. Sex customsEnglandLondonHistory20th century. 4. London (England)Social life and customs20th century. I. Title. II. Series.
HQ76.2.G72L655 2005
306.76'62'094210904dc22
2005004166
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
QUEER LONDON
Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 19181957
MATT HOULBRWK
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
THE CHICAGO SERIES ON SEXUALITY, HISTORY, & SOCIETY
EDITED BY JOHN C. FOUT
Also in the series:
Improper Advances: Rape & Heterosexual Conflict in Ontario, 18801929
by Karen Dubinsky
A Prescription for Murder: The Victorian Serial Killings of Dr. Thomas Neill Cream
by Angus McLaren
The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200
by John W. Baldwin
Crossing over the Line: Legislating Morality & the Mann Act
by David J. Langum
Sexual Nature/Sexual Culture
edited by Paul R. Abramson and Steven D. Pinkerton
Love between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism
by Bernadette J. Brooten
The Trials of Masculinity: Policing Sexual Boundaries, 18701930
by Angus McLaren
The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology
by Mark D. Jordan
Sites of Desire/Economies of Pleasure: Sexualities in Asia & the Pacific
edited by Lenore Manderso and Margaret Jolly
Sex & the Gender Revolution, Volume I: Heterosexuality & the Third Gender in Enlightenment London
by Randolph Trumbach
Take the Young Stranger by the Hand: Same-Sex Relations & the YMCA
by John Donald Gustav-Wrathall
City of Sisterly & Brotherly Loves: Lesbian and Gay Philadelphia, 19451972
by Marc Stein
The Politics of Gay Rights
edited by Craig A. Rimmerman, Kenneth D. Wald, and Clyde Wilcox
Otto Weininger: Sex, Science, & Self in Imperial Vienna
by Chandak Sengoopta
Stepchildren of Nature: Kraft-Ebing, Psychiatry, & the Making of Sexual Identity
by Harry Oosterhuis
The Manly Eunuch: Masculinity, Gender Ambiguity, & Christian Ideology in Late Antiquity
by Mathew Kuefler
A History of Bisexuality
by Steven Angelides
Sappho in Early Modern England: Female Same-Sex Literary Erotics, 15501714
by Harriette Andreadis
Sodomy in Reformation Germany & Switzerland, 14001600
by Helmut Puff
This is London, not Antarctica.
Hefner, We Love the City
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A few months ago a friend told me that I practice the historians equivalent of method acting. Looking back, Im not convinced that this was meant as a compliment. Ive lived this book for the past eight years. My friends have had to cope with me drifting in and out of conversations in the pub, lost in whatever bit of history I was working on; not coming out because I was busy; talking endlessly about powder puffs; thinking PRO reference numbers would make great tattoos; dragging them down alleyways to check out where a urinal once stood. Theyve humored me, encouraged me, and tolerated my obsessions. Theyve taken the piss often enough to keep me vaguely connected to reality and reminded me that there are more important things than MEPO files. Theyve been there when I needed them. For what its worth, I offer my thanks to Michelle Atkinson, Rachel Buxton, Ann Deary, Claire Hibbitt, Bryn Jeffries and Clare Samuelson, Tom Kingston, Han Maddox, Cath Rothon, Dave Scales, Caroline Thomas, and Paul Watson. The late Vanessa Coombe would have been delighted to see this book in print. I miss her.
Amazingly, institutions have funded my obsessions: postgraduate studentships from the University of Essex and the Arts and Humanities Research Board of the British Academy; a Junior Research Fellowship at New College Oxford; and most recently, a job in the School of History at the University of Liverpool. At New College, Alan Ryan gave unwavering and appreciated support. At Liverpool, Ive found a new energy from colleagues and students alike. Thanks to Dmitri van den Bersselaar, Miriam Dobson, Martin Heale, and Dan Scroop. Andy Davies has listened, advised, and kicked me into action again.
This book started out as my Ph.D. dissertation under the supervision of Geoff Crossick and Pam Cox. Their constant encouragement and insights pushed me farther than I ever imagined. Ken Plummer offered perceptive suggestions. As examiners, Mike Roper and John Tosh forced me to look again at ideas I had taken for granted.
Ive been lucky enough to have worked on this project at the same time as a generation of historians has begun to reshape the ways in which we think about queer British history. It is an exciting time to be working in this field, and I have benefited from a remarkably generous and open exchange of ideas with Harry Cocks, Paul Deslandes, Laura Doan, Frank Mort, and Alison Oram, amongst others. Matt Cook and Morris Kaplan read the manuscript; their scribbled comments made me reconsider and rework. This is a much better book as a result. My biggest intellectual and personal debt is to Chris Waters: hes a much-loved friend, a constant source of encouragement, and an infuriating and compelling intellectual challenge in equal measure. Hes an absolute star. Along the way Marcus Collins, Richard Dennis, Lesley Hall, Steven Maynard, Malcolm Shifrin, and Frances Spalding have shared ideas or references and commented on various works.
And now its a book. Credit here has to go to Douglas Mitchell, my editor at Chicago. Its impossible to say how much Ive benefited from his remarkable talent for communicating energy and enthusiasm via e-mail. Hes supported and cajoled, kept me on track, and made me laugh out loud. Seth Koven and Martin Francis read my manuscript for the press. I thank them for their constructive suggestions and hope they can see the results. Im extremely grateful to the production and editorial team at Chicagoparticularly Tim McGovern and Maia Rigasfor working so hard to make this book what it has become. Thanks also to Sandra Mather from the Department of Geography at the University of Liverpool for drawing the map.
Finally, I owe a unique debt to my family. My brother, Adam, has done more than he probably had to. Hes read my work; hes been on too many nights out with me; hes refused to put up with my angst. As selfless as ever, hes done more than his fair share of piss taking. My parents, Malcolm and Joyce, have simply been there and been themselves. They all mean the world to me.
