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Feminist literary theory is a complex, dynamic area of study that draws from a wide range of critical theories.
Although gay, lesbian, and queer theory are related practices, the three terms delineate separate emphases marked by different assumptions about the relationship between gender and sexuality.
Williams, TennesseeConflicted over his own sexuality, Tennessee Williams wrote directly about homosexuality only in his short stories, his poetry, and his late plays.
AestheticismA theory of art and an approach to living that influenced many European and American gay male and lesbian writers at the turn of the twentieth century, aestheticism stressed the independence of art from all moral and social conditions and judgments.
Wilde, OscarOscar Wilde is important both as an accomplished writer and as a symbolic figure who exemplified a way of being homosexual at a pivotal moment in the emergence of gay consciousness.
Erotica and PornographyErotic and pornographic works have been written in many cultures since ancient times and recently have flourished with the relaxation of censorship.
The Harlem RenaissanceThe Harlem Renaissance, an African-American literary movement of the 1920s and 1930s, included several important gay and lesbian writers.
CampCombining elements of incongruity, theatricality, and exaggeration, camp is a form of humor that helps homosexuals cope with a hostile environment.
Last updated on: 02/05/12
Daniel O'Donnell (left) and John Banta at their wedding (still from a YouTube video by Jose Rivera).
Congratulations to John Banta and Daniel J. O'Donnell on their wedding in New York City on January 29, 2012. The couple helped give a human face to the need for same-sex marriage in New York. O'Donnell, a Democratic Assemblyman representing New York City's Upper West Side, has served in the state Assembly since 2002 and was one of the lead sponsors of the marriage equality legislation that was finally passed on June 24, 2011. Banta, an events planner and Director of Special Events for the Metropolitan Opera, frequently appeared in Albany to lobby in favor of the legislation.
The ceremony, which was held at Guastavino's in Manhattan, was performed by Judith S. Kaye, former Chief Judge of New York's highest court, who in July 2006 wrote a carefully reasoned but powerful dissent when the court ruled 4-2 that the state constitution did not compel same-sex marriage. She noted then that denying marriage to same-sex couples does not serve the interest of children and predicted that future generations would consider the decision "an unfortunate misstep."
During the wedding ceremony, Judge Kaye read an excerpt from one of O'Donnell's speeches on same-sex marriage during the debate in the legislature: "I don't want a seat in your synagogue, I don't want a church pew. I want a license that all of you have. Some of you have had two or three times."
The wedding was attended by many of O'Donnell's colleagues in the state legislature and by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Also present were members of both grooms' families, including Rosie O'Donnell, the brother of Daniel O'Donnell.
Banta and O'Donnell met in 1978 at the Catholic University of America, where they were freshmen. They became a couple in the fall of their Junior year.
The story of their thirty-year relationship is recounted by Elissa Gootman in the February 3, 2012 edition of New York Times.
In the video below Daniel O'Donnell delivers the closing argument before the vote in the New York State Assembly on June 15, 2011.
Below is a video of the wedding by Jose Rivera.
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