"Among those men who may've been dealing with homosexuals
and/or prostitutes a bit less harshly in the '60s, to stick
to HB and its periphery, Gore Vidal, Nelson Algren, Harlan
Ellison (the least little bit, perhaps), William Burroughs
come to mind."
Burroughs dealing with homosexuals less harshly? Maybe, just
maybe, in a more positive light, but I wouldn't say less
harshly. I think Burroughs could easily be read as the
embodiment of and cautionary tale against everything that
straights were supposed to fear about the gay and/or drug
underworlds (remember, Junkie was first printed as an
exploitation novel) and reinforcement for those who felt
something should be done about them. And couldn't pretty much
the same be said for other Grove Press authors, such as Rechy
and Selby, assuming they were read by straights, which they
probably weren't, except maybe for titillation.
Mark
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