Ten years ago, when I met a homosexual who was a patient in the Central Islip State Hospital. I can well recall my first scientific encounter with the problem. Yet I must confess that only a few years ago I entertained similar feelings and opinions regarding this subject.
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I have discussed this subject with many broad-minded, intelligent professional men and laymen and have been surprised to hear how utterly disgusted they become at the very mention of the name and how little they understand the whole problem. Of the abnormal sexual manifestations that one encounters none, perhaps, is so enigmatical and to the average person so abhorrent as homosexuality. He began his talk by discussing how his encounters with homosexuals shaped his understanding of them: The Augedition of the Journal of the American Medical Association published a talk that Brill gave at the AMA’s annual convention in Minneapolis in June, exploring the question of how homosexuals can be “treated” to ameliorate their condition. Brill, as the English translator of Sigmund Freud’s writings, had singlehandedly introduced Americans to Freud’s teachings and became known as the father of American psychoanalysis. ► (How) Should Homosexuals Be Treated?: 1913. Bauman, whose entire life consisted of one tragedy after another, died in 2010 at the age of 63.ĭoubted prostate massages would cure homosexuality. Shelly’s Leg closed a little more than a year later.
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The club’s windows were blown out and the DJ’s booth destroyed. In December 1975, an oil tanker on the Alaskan Way Viaduct above the bar collided with the guardrail and exploded, pouring flaming gasoline onto a passing freight train and thirty cars parked in front of Shelly’s Leg below. The brashness of Shelly’s Leg ushered in a whole new era for Seattle’s gay community. Shelly’s Leg was also the city’s first unabashedly gay bar, with a giant sign greeting patrons as soon as they walked in announcing “Shelly’s Leg is a GAY BAR proved for Seattle’s gay community and their guests.” Seattle’s gay clubs until then had been quiet, dark affairs, trying their best to stay under the radar. She sued, and used the settlement money to open Seattle’s first disco on November 13, 1973. She was in a coma for nearly a year, and in the hospital for another year.
She lost part of her pelvis, a kidney, some of her intestines, and her left leg, which put an end to her exotic dancing career. In 1970, Shelly Bauman went to a Bastille Day Parade in Seattle’s Pioneer Square when an antique cannon was fired into the crowed. From Northwest Gay Review, August 1974, page 24.