An Open Secret

Download or read book An Open Secret written by Nicholas L. Syrett and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2021-04-30 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An Open Secret traces the history of philanthropist Robert Allerton and his companion, John Wyatt Gregg, whom Allerton formally adopted as his son in 1960, after decades of living together. Yet why did these two men, who appear to be a gay couple from our view today, choose to project a father/son relationship? Syrett argues that in a period of both rising homosexual openness and social disapproval, the men had to find an alternative public logic for their situation. Whether or not Allerton and Gregg had sex with each other, they were undoubtedly a queer union: two high-society men who did not affirm traditional notions of partnership or couplehood"--