In his work on gay life in New York, George Chauncey seeks to dispel the various myths about the gay lifestyle before the civil rights era of the 1990s 60. He distills these misconceptions into three major myths: “…isolation, invisibility and internalization” (Chauncey 1994: 2). He believes that a certain image has taken hold in the public mind that homosexuals did not openly exist before the 1960s, and that professional historians have largely ignored this era of sexual history. He posits that such ideas are simply counterfactual. Using New York City, a metropolitan landscape where many types of people converge, it details a thriving gay community. This is certainly a community in Chauncey's estimation; it shows that gay men had an extensive network of bars, clubs, and various other cultural venues where not only gay men mixed, but also the general public. This dispels the first two main myths that gay men were isolated from other gay men or invisible to the population. As for the internalization of gay men, they didn't hate themselves at all. In fact, Chauncey shows examples of gay pride, such as a drag queen arrested and detained in a police car in a photo with a big smile (Chauncey 1994: 330). Using a series of personal interviews, primary archival materials from municipal repositories, articles, police reports, and private watchdog groups, Chauncey details with a preponderance of evidence the existence of 'a gay culture in New York, while at the same time using high school. to give context to larger events like the Depression and thus link changes in the gay community to larger changes in society. But he doesn't just dispel the myths of early 20th century gay life, he also breaks down those myths to... . middle of paper ......e the social changes brought about by this period. He cites the growing sensationalism of sex covered by the media as one of the main drivers of sexual orthodoxy in American culture (Chauncey 1994: 359). During this witch hunt, he draws a glimmer of hope. Drawing on the scholarship of others such as John D'Emilio, he cites that this period brought a stronger connection to the gay community by forging a brotherhood of adversity that would later come into play in the 1960s as an experiential touchstone for the civil rights era. Chauncey 1994, 360). Chauncey inserts his own account of New York's gay community into the broader narrative of gay life in America, filling in the gaps in secondary sources through his own primary work.BibliographyChauncey, George. 1994. Gay New York: Gender, urban culture and the creation of the gay male world 1890-1940. New York: basic books.