Vintage gay

This week’s vintage gay post breaks with tradition because (try as I might) I could not find a photo of Lewis Duckett and Dr. Billy Jones from years past. The image above is from their wedding in 2013. When this photo was taken, they had already been together for 46 years, having met just prior to Dr. Jones being sent overseas in the Vietnam War. He and Lewis would write to each other almost every day but because being gay was a crime and potentially career-ending, they wrote in code, often with Duckett using a pseudonym, posing as a woman to be able to write more freely about his feelings for Jones. Jones would return safely from Vietnam and the two men would go on to adopt a child and eventually become grandparents. You can learn more about these amazing men by Googling their names, but I first learned about the couple reading, Famous Black Gay Couples in The Spotlight on Black Gay Blog.

I dedicate this weekly post, featuring vintage gay photographs, to the men and women who lived in a more critical time where being true to yourself and loving who you want wasn’t always an option and came at a great price. Do you have a photo you would like to share? Email me at bosguymail@gmail.com.

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