Bad Gays

A Homosexual History

By: Huw Lemmey, Ben Miller

Narrated by: Ben Allen

We all remember Oscar Wilde, but who speaks for Bosie? What about those 'bad gays' whose un-exemplary lives reveal more than we might expect? Too many popular histories seek to establish heroes, pioneers and martyrs but, as Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller argue, the past is filled with queer people whose sexualities and dastardly deeds have been overlooked.

Based on the hugely popular podcast series, Bad Gays subverts the notion of gay icons and queer heroes and asks what we can learn about LGBTQ+ history, sexuality and identity through its villains and baddies. From the Emperor Hadrian to anthropologist Margaret Mead and notorious gangster Ronnie Kray, the authors excavate the buried history of queer lives. This includes kings, fascist thugs such as Nazi founder Ernst Rohm, artists, and debauched bon viveurs.

Together these amazing life stories expand and challenge the mainstream assumptions of sexual identity. They show that homosexuality itself was an idea that emerged in the nineteenth century and that its interpretation has been central to major historical moments of conflict from the ruptures of Weimar Republic to red-baiting in Cold War America.

©2022 Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller (P)2022 Tantor

Edit your damn audiobook

did no one actually listen to this after it was submitted? there are multiple takes still included and alternate readings. this is embarrassing to listen to, which is a shame, bc the book itself is good.

Fun historical information

Overall it was interesting to listen about the bad gay boys, but I did hear some date inaccuracies.

Great narrator and story, awful editing

The producers of this audiobook must have been asleep on the job. The Final Cut was not properly edited. However, I enjoyed the book. I learned a lot. I liked the chapter on Hoover and Cohn possibly the most. Also, I’d let this narrator read tax codes to me. Such a soothing voice.

Obnoxious voice of reader and underwhelming work, can I have my credit back?

A lot of random fluff and banter and historical mind wondering, this book did not connect the dots for me. The author of the book somehow was able to read the minds of its long dead subjects and tell us what they were thinking and also feeling and how everyone felt about them at the time, and somehow takes the position of an all knowing god as they describe the stories of different characters in history. Some parts are scholarly and actually refer to original source materials but unfortunately most of the book goes very much into the opinion of the author and come off as a reflection of their emotional state.

another editorial disguised as history

if a book is billing itself as history, it should keep strong editorial opinions out of the text. these so-called gay histories are always very strict about conforming to Modern expectations. the only things ever condemned seem to be those that do not align perfectly with the current political message of the so-called lgbtq community