BEFORE STONEWALL: WHAT MADE BLOOMINGTON A GAY OASIS?

BEFORE STONEWALL

Bloomington is a small place compared to major coastal cities, but as the 7th largest population center in Indiana, and the largest town in the overwhelmingly rural south-central portion of the state, it functions in many ways as an urban area, with a population that is much more diverse and internationally-derived than the surrounding area. In other regards, it remains typically rural. In spite of the town’s relative diversity, its population is drawn largely from a racially and ethnically homogeneous (white) hinterland dominated by evangelical Christian values, and it is relatively isolated from coastal cultural influences. All of these “push” and “pull” factors, combined with the region’s history and demography, converge to shape the parameters within which Bloomington’s LGBT community has taken shape over the past half-century.

Negative Pressures From Surrounding Area

The formation of Bloomington’s LGBT community over the second half of the 20th century cannot be separated from the broader and deeper history of the area. Its demographic composition has been shaped over the long term by a history of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and slavery. The social regulation of white gender variance and homosexuality is linked to this history of racism through the logic and practice of eugenics, as well as through the terror of white supremacist groups such as the KKK, condemnatory beliefs of fundamentalist evangelical Christianity, and the xenophobia that sometimes characterizes geographically isolated populations.

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Ethnic Cleansing of Indiana

Third-Gender Roles in Indiana-Area Native Americans

Eugenic Logics

Cross-Dressing and the Law: Policing Gender

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The Kinsey Institute

The Indiana University Board of Aeons Bathroom Entrapment Scandal