Land of 10,000 Loves: A History of Queer Minnesota

(Paperback)

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For too long, LGBTQ communitiesincluding Minnesotashave been maligned, misrepresented, and often outright ignored. Myths regarding the queer experience have grown and become embedded in local and national consciousness. The absence of queer stories over time in local historical and popular writing only served to further this ignorance, but great strides have been made in recent decades to celebrate Minnesotas vibrant queer history. Add to this rising chorus an enchanting new voice: Land of 10,000 Loves, Stewart Van Cleves wide-ranging and unprecedented illustrated history of queer life in Minnesota.

Drawing from the renowned Tretter Collection at the University of Minnesotaa vast collection of books, photographs, films, and other historical artifacts that Van Cleve calls one of the most comprehensive accounts of international queer history in the worldLand of 10,000 Loves blends oral history, archival narrative, newspaper accounts, and fascinating illustrations to paint a remarkable picture of Minnesotas queer history. More than 120 concise historical essays lead readers from the earliest evidences of queer life in Minnesota before the Second World Warfor example, Oscar Wildes visit to Minnesota and rumors at the Alexander Ramsey houseto riverfront vice districts, protest and parade sites, bars, 1970s collectives, institutions, public spaces, and private homes. More than 130 illustrations illuminate these histories with images of pride guides, archival photographs, and advertisements from local queer bars among other extraordinary pieces of ephemera and artifacts. Many of the stories and images are well known, while others have been all but forgotten, until now.

Building on foundational works of regional queer history such as The Evening Crowd at Kirmsers and Queer Twin Cities, the historical vignettes of Land of 10,000 Loves show us that Minnesotafrom its biggest cities to its smallest townshas been, as Van Cleve notes, queer, to a certain extent, since the very beginning. Land of 10,000 Loves honors this rich and diverse legacy and is a compelling testament to the sacrifices, scandals, and victories that have affected and continue to affect the lives of queer Minnesotans.

Reviews

"Stuart Van Cleve has gone into the musty archives and brought them to vivid life. His comprehensive and entertaining overview of queer Minnesota history is a total page-turner. This feat is all the more impressive given that hes writing about people who, for a long time, were trying hard to keep their lives hidden. This important work of regional history is also a kind of family historydocumenting our recent past with equal parts painstaking accuracy and unabashed love." Alison Bechdel, creator of the comic strip DTWOF and former Dyke Heights resident

"Land of 10,000 Loves is in itself an archive of GLBT history, each entry another astute illumination of queer Minnesota places, spaces, and people. We may ourselves be out of the closet, but too much of our history is still hidden. This compendium is a necessary revelation."Barrie Jean Borich, author of Body Geographic and My Lesbian Husband

"Stewart Van Cleve has made my dream real with this book. I dreamt that scholars, one day, would use the Tretter Collection to reflect our queer world back to us. You will learn something reading this book, find some new story you missed because you were too young, too old, or just not in the right place at the right time. It is rich, wide-ranging, and very smart. May many others be inspired to follow his lead." Patrick Scully, founder, Patricks Cabaret

Author Bio

Stewart Van Cleve worked as a curatorial assistant at the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies at the University of Minnesota. He is currently a graduate student at the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University.