Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941 is inspired by a “medical study” of the same year which attempted to analyze and medicalize queer sexuality. The Civilians, a NYC based theater company, produces works which examine our complex social and political realities. For this particular performance, they have recruited actors to play out the many stories in the depression-era study through monologue, song, and illustrations from the original case studies, which are radically honest and elaborately detailed. The Civilians creatively paint a vivid picture of queer life of the era that has been repressed from the mainstream.
Office Hours: Coming Soon
Get Into It
Get Thee to the LIbrary
Recommended readings to get you in gear for the show.
Erik Eckhert, A Case for the Demedicalization of Queer Bodies (2016)
George Chauncey, A Gay World, Vibrant and Forgotten (1994)
Henry L. Minton, Community Empowerment and the Medicalization of Homosexuality: Constructing Sexual Identities in the 1930s (1996)
Julio Capó Jr., 7 Queers During and After Prohibition (2017)
Richard Weinmeyer, The Decriminalization of Sodomy in The United States (2014)
Read All About It
Graydon Gund for Posture Mag | March 13, 2014
Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941
“It made me wonder, have we regressed?”
NYU Tisch | Feb 22, 2018
Q & A With Steve Cossun
“This spring, Tisch Drama is thrilled to welcome renowned director and writer Steve Cosson as the department’s artist-in-residence.”
History Lessons
Sarah Pruit for The History Channel | June 10, 2019
How Gay Culture Blossomed During the Roaring Twenties
“As the United States entered an era of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity in the years after World War I, cultural mores loosened and a new spirit of sexual freedom reigned.”
Extra Credit
An interesting read on another side of queerness in the 1940s.
Tor Haugan for UC Berkeley Library | February 19, 2024
‘They’ll figure that I’m a queer’: UC Berkeley student brings to light stories of LGBTQ+ Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII
“In his Library Prize-winning project, ‘Erased: An Exploration of Queer Japanese Americans’ Experience During the Internment Period,’ Gottschalk provides a sensitive, nuanced reading of firsthand accounts, revealing clues into the presence of LGBTQ+ prisoners in the concentration camps.”