Bonus video! A brief history of Las Vegas gay nightlife
Added 2023-12-31 17:00:12 +0000 UTCHello there!
I'm visiting family in Las Vegas this week, but I managed to sneak away for a few minutes to record a bonus video about some local gay history. One of the things that I find fascinating about Las Vegas' 20th-century queer history is how much of it survived, even from times when that sort of thing was so taboo that records of queer lives weren't kept or were usually destroyed. I suspect that at least some of that endurance is due to how important nightlife in general was to the economic stability of Las Vegas. But I also think it's important to note that it's a lot harder to come by histories going further back to the original inhabitants.
Here's a few fun clips that I found of some gay Las Vegas stuff:
- Female impersonator Lynne Carter: https://youtu.be/VM_YDUVjFZ8?si=PRDtM85dDPnChGtm
- Jim Bailey performing on the show Vegas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJkBPJ8Flkw
- A short 1953 newsreel with Christine Jorgensen (a trans woman, not a female impersonator), who in 1955 performed in Las Vegas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FYZ6m06bDU
- Reno gay rodeo in 1983: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEguOmS5q9I
