Edward Sagarin
Edward Saragin | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Professor, novelist, essayist |
| Genre | Issues regarding homosexuality |
Edward Sagarin (September 18, 1913 - June 10, 1986), better known by his pen name Donald Webster Cory, was a professor of sociology and criminology at the City University of New York, and a writer. His book, "The Homosexual in America: A Subjective Approach" published in 1951, was considered "one of the most influential works in the history of the gay rights movement".[1]
He was titled "father of the homophile movement" for asserting that gay men and lesbians deserved civil rights as members of a large, unrecognised minority.[2]
Biography
Early life
Sagarin was born in Schenectady, New York to Russian, Jewish parents. Sagarin was born with scoliosis, which produced a hump on his back. He attended high school, and after graduating, spent a year in France where he met André Gide. Upon his return to New York, he enrolled at City College of New York, but was forced to drop out of college due to the Great Depression.[1]
In 1934, Sagarin met Gertrude Liphshitz, a woman who shared his left-wing political interests. They married in 1936 and soon after, Gertrude gave birth to a boy. Sagarin established himself in the perfume and cosmetics industry, knowledgeable about the chemistry of perfumes, publishing "The Science and Art of Perfumery" in 1945.[1]
Donald Webster Cory
Sagarin began a dual life, publishing "The Homosexual in America: A Subjective Approach" in 1951, under the pseudonym of Donald Webster Cory. The book was considered the first, most widely read non-fiction book in the United States to "present knowledgeably and sympathetically the plight of the homosexual as told from the inside rather than the outside." His book described how homosexuals were discriminated against in almost all aspects of their lives and presented homosexuals as a despised minority;
"One great gap separates the homosexual minority from all others, and that is its lack of recognition, its lack of respectability in the eyes of the public, and even in the most advanced circles."
A report conducted by Alfred Kinsey in 1948, "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male", had a beneficial effect on the reception of Sagarin's publication. In 1952, due to the success of "The Homosexual in America: A Subjective Approach", Sagarin established a subscription book service called, "Cory Book Service", which chose a gay-themed literary work each month.[1]
Sagarin continued using his pseudonym, and released a second publication in 1953 called, "Twenty-One Variations on a Theme", an anthology of short stories dealing with homosexuality which Sherwood Anderson, Paul Bowles, Christopher Isherwood, Denton Welch, Charles Jackson, and Stefan Zweig all contributed to.[1]
1960s
In 1958, Sagarin joined Brooklyn College, completing his BA in an accelerated program, and entered an MA program in sociology in 1961, where he wrote a thesis on "The Anatomy of Dirty Words". Throughout the 1960s, Cory remained one of the most conservative members of the Mattachine Society, and was opposed the rejection of the "sickness theory" of homosexuality by some homophile leaders. His belief was that homosexuality was "a disturbance" that probably arose as a result of a pathological family situation. In 1963, he co-authored a book called, "The Homosexual and His Society" with John LeRoy (pseudonym of Barry Sheer), which claimed that there was no such thing as a "well adjusted homosexual". His difference in beliefs from other members of the Mattachine Society, resulted in a disparity that influenced his education. He entered New York University's Ph. D. program in sociology, graduating in 1966, submitting a dissertation titled, "Structure and Ideology in an Association of Deviants," which was a study of the Mattachine Society. He accepted a job for the position of assistant professor at Baruch college, a campus of City University of New York.[1]
1970s
In the 1970s, Sagarin pursued an active homosexual life, though he continued to characterise homosexuals as disturbed, and frequently urged them to seek therapy. He rejected the idea that homosexuality was a natural sexual variant, and criticised the new psychological and sociological studies of Evelyn Hooker and John Gagnon. However, he argued that homosexuality should be decriminalized.[1]
The real identity of Saragin's persona, Donald Webster Cory, remained unknown until a convention in Montreal of the American Sociological Society, in 1974. On a panel entitled, "Theoretical Perspectives on Homosexuality", Saragin levelled criticism at the liberationist scholarship, and in response, Laud Humphreys exposed Saragin by calling him "Cory". After the convention, Sagarin withdrew from issues concerning homosexuality.[1]
On June 10, 1986, he died of a heart attack.
Literary works
- The Science and Art of Perfumery (1945) - Edward Sagarin
- Structure and Ideology in an Association of Deviants (1951) - Edward Sagarin
- Twenty-One Variations on a Theme (1953)