About the Book
For more than a century before gay marriage became a hot-button political issue, same-sex unions flourished in America. Pairs of men and pairs of women joined together in committed unions, standing by each other “for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health” for periods of thirty or forty—sometimes as many as fifty—years. In short, they loved and supported each other every bit as much as any husband and wife.
Outlaw Marriages shows how some of these unions didn’t merely improve the quality of life for the two people involved, but also enriched the American culture.
Here’s the list of high-profile couples—in fields ranging from education to theater and from music to Hollywood filmmaking—whose lives and loves are illuminated in this ground-breaking book ~
♥ Walt Whitman & Peter Doyle ~ 1865-1892
♥ Martha Carey Thomas & Mamie Gwinn ~ 1878-1904
♥ John Marshall & Ned Warren ~ 1884-1927
♥ Jane Addams & Mary Rozet Smith ~ 1891-1934
♥ Elsie de Wolfe & Bessie Marbury ~ 1892-1933
♥ J. C. Leyendecker & Charles Beach ~ 1901-1951
♥ Gertrude Stein & Alice B. Toklas ~ 1907-1946
♥ Janet Flanner & Solita Solano ~ 1919-1975
♥ Greta Garbo & Mercedes de Acosta ~ 1931-1960
♥ Aaron Copland & Victor Kraft ~ 1932-1976
♥ Tennessee Williams & Frank Merlo ~ 1948-1963
♥ James Baldwin & Lucien Happersberger ~ 1949-1987
♥ Robert Rauschenberg & Jasper Johns ~ 1954-1962
♥ Ismail Merchant & James Ivory ~ 1961-2005
♥ Audre Lorde & Frances Clayton ~ 1968-1988