Pulitzer Prize winning poet John Ashbery (who is also an ambassador of the Library’s LGBT Committee) just came out with a delicious new book of poems. Planisphere has all of the vision, humor, slant observation, and colloquial intelligence for which Ashbery is famous. The new poems also have a careful intimacy and elegiac sense, which were noted in the New York Times‘ glowing review.  I’ve been reading it back and forth all week; my favorite poems so far is “Episode”:

“In old days, when they tried to figure out
how to write the sweetest melodies, they fell
on a bed, chewed the pillow. A moon rankled
in the crevices of a shutter. In 1935
the skirts were long and flared slightly,
suitably. Hats shaded part of the face.
Lipstick was fudgy and encouraging. There was
music in the names of the years. 1937
was welcoming too, though one bit one’s lip
preparing for the pain to come…” 

For more of Ashbery’s work make sure to check out the first volume of his Collected Poems, released last year by Library of America.

Above, Michael McConnell and Jack Baker photographed by Kay Tobin Lahusen, 1970.  

Given the New York State Senate’s rejection of marriage equality last week, it seems a good moment to remember the history of LGBT struggles for marriage rights in the U.S. During the early years of the modern American LGBT civil rights struggle, during the 1950s through 1960s, marriage was a lively topic of discussion. Most of these discussions of marriage in early LGBT political journals like One and The Ladder focused on how to sustain long-term homosexual relationships in a homophobic world, rather than fighting for equal rights to marry. However the most prominent discussions of “gay marriage” in those early years concerned the viability of heterosexual marriage for gays and lesbians—whether gays and lesbians should marry heterosexually in order to secure social and cultural protection. A major milestone was reached in 1970 when Jack Baker and his partner James Michael McConnell applied and sued for the right to marry in Minnesota. Their case reached the Supreme Court, where they lost when the Court refused to hear their case. Almost 40 years of political struggle for marriage equality have ensued. Five states currently allow same-sex marriage, but it is not recognized at the federal level due to the Defense of Marriage Act. For more info on marriage equality struggles and their legal and social history check out these recent books:

Beyond Straight and Gay Marriage: Valuing All Families Under the Law by Nancy D. Polikoff

Making It Legal: a Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnership & Civil Unionsby Frederick C. Hertz with Emily Doskow

When Gay People Get Married: What Happens when Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage by M.V. Lee Badgett 

The New York Public Library LGBT Visiting Scholars Program
Martin Duberman Visiting Scholars

Each year, The New York Public Library provides stipends for up to three Martin Duberman Visiting Scholars. The stipends support travel to New York City and related expenses to do research in the Library’s premier LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) history collections. The travel grants awarded range from $1,000 to $8,500. The program is limited to emerging scholars—those without permanent academic appointments—or those who are unaffiliated with an academic institution. Recipients must supply a written summary of their findings upon completion of their work. Interested applicants should send a 3-5 page research proposal specifying the relevant collections at the Library for their project, a draft budget and itinerary for their planned trip, a CV, and an appropriate letter of recommendation.

Applications should be sent to Jason Baumann, The New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018. Applications must be received by March 1. Notice of awards will be sent beginning March 31. The Martin Duberman Visiting Scholars are funded by the generous support of Martin Duberman and Eli Zal.

If you have any questions about the program or the Library’s collections, please contact Jason Baumann, Coordinator of Collection Assessment and LGBT Collections at jbaumann@nypl.org.