Publishers Weekly
03/28/2022
Novelist Lemmey (Unknown Language) and historian Miller (The New Queer Photography) take an intriguing if disjointed look at “the gay people in history who do not flatter us, and whom we cannot make into heroes: the liars, the powerful, the criminal, and the successful.” Their profile subjects include Roman emperor Hadrian, who may have sacrificed his lover Antinous’s life in order to prolong his reign, and Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, who used his success as an openly gay politician to push an anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim agenda before his assassination by an environmental activist in 2002. Sixteenth-century Scottish monarch James VI and 18th-century Prussian ruler Frederick the Great also appear, as do Victorian male prostitute Jack Saul and 1960s British gangster Ronnie Kray. Though the authors make incisive points about “how white male homosexuality, as a political, identitarian, and emancipatory project, has failed,” the individual profiles don’t coalesce into a satisfying narrative, and the criticism of the cis, white, male perspective is belied by the fact the only two examples—American anthropologist Margaret Mead and Japanese writer Yukio Mishima—are neither male nor white. This thought-provoking survey doesn’t quite achieve its larger ambitions. (May)
From the Publisher
"Why must liberatory history be populated by heroes? And what if it isn't? Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller confront the shadowy side of queer history, a seamy underworld populated by evil twinks and psychopathic villains. Delectable gossip aside, this revelatory book is really an account of toxic power relations, always with an eye to a better, stranger, wilder future."
—Olivia Laing, author of Everybody
"A wry, rigorous account of centuries of gay villainy. Lemmey and Miller's historiography sparkles with salacious details and delights in showing us that there is nothing new under the sun."
—Shon Faye, Author of The Transgender Issue
"A smart, funny (and, just occasionally, catty) tour through the darker side of LGBTQ+ history. Far from being an excoriation, this book is a sign of confidence in a community that no longer has to present its antecedents as saints and martyrs but as real people: some of these gays were well-meaning but flawed; some of them were complicated; and some of them were just bloody awful."
—Juliet Jacques, author of Variations
"An antidote to assumptions that anyone oppressed must be the good guy."
—Catherine Fletcher, History Today, Books of the Year
"What a great way to do history/think about identity/consider the history of homosexuality. By turns uncomfortable, outrageous and hilarious, this book, taken from the podcast of the same name, was one of my unputdownables of 2022. Looking forward to the next edition already"
—Julia Bell, White Review, Best Books 2022
"In examining the lives of these notorious 'bad gays,' the authors examine the ways queerness has been perceived throughout history, and gives modern-day LGBTQ+ people an opportunity to see what the possibilities are going forward. (Also, everyone loves a villain origin story, so who can resist?!)"
—David Vogel, Buzzfeed
"The historical perspective is fascinating, and the bits of salty gay humor sprinkled throughout liven the proceedings considerably."
—Booklist
"Bad Gays succeeds in its goals in every way, offering an infuriating, thoughtful, deliciously judgmental history of the very worst we had to offer."
—Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez, Washington Post
"Fascinating-and very funny-deep dives into the lives of the most dastardly queer people in history...Bad Gays offers a riveting look back at historical figures whom the present-day LGBTQ+ community might be less eager to reclaim."
—Liam Hess, Vogue
"The authors cruise the wilder and darker side of queer history....Well-researched, humorous, they illustrate how the interpretation of homosexuality itself influenced history."
—E. B. Boatner, Lavender Magazine
"A provocative argument, one they put forth in a way that's both thorough and entertaining....a who's who of queer nasties through history."
—Michael Hays, The Gay & Lesbian Review
"Succeeds in radically rethinking queer history...Bad Gays is ultimately an act of love-most criticism is, after all-and this is made clear in how compellingly Lemmey and Miller write about their vision for the future."
—Eleni Vlahiotis, PopMatters
"Dizzyingly eclectic ... offers a wealth of interesting facts and wide-ranging references"
—Sarah Sachs-Eldridge, Socialism Today
